I Will Always Love You
by CeeCee828
Summary: Starting Harry's third year: What if Professor Lupin had 3 children whose other father was none other than the infamous Sirius Black? This is how the story of Harry Potter would have changed. Better summary inside. Now on to Harry's 5th year.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: So I've taken a shot at another FF! If I continue this one after this chapter – I might, I might not, it depends on several things – then the updates will probably slow. And just so you know, chapter's will have various lengths.**

**This chapter is Sirius' POV – it will change every chapter, or nearly every chapter, but I will always tell you what it is. Keep in mind that he just escaped Azkaban so he's slightly insane right now.**

**SUMMARY: SB/RL, OCs: Starting Harry's third year: What if Professor Lupin had 3 children whose other father was none other than the infamous Sirius Black? Abigail, Samson, and Riley Black-Lupin enter Hogwarts finally knowing about their _true _heritage. How will it work out when people start to get suspicious of their father and their random outbursts always around the full moon?**** Will they be able to take the bashing of their murderer father and manage to stay away from him and alive when there's word of him heading toward Hogwarts to "get to" somebody there?**

**There will be a new summary at the start of every book.  
**

Chapter 1

I saw him first.

He should be fifteen by now, going into his fifth year at Hogwarts, and he looks just like me; black hair that hung slightly past his ears and fell into his eyes casually: extremely tall: handsome. But those weren't the things I noticed instantly.

It was his eyes that I saw first. They were amber – precisely the color of _your_ eyes.

I hadn't seen your eyes for twelve years. They're the thing I love most about you, Remus. Have I ever told you that? Well, they are. And I had forgotten just how much I loved them until I saw them on Samson. They shine, like the moon, only they don't cause you pain and aren't as foreboding. They're beautiful.

I remembered the day Sam was born.

The potion had taken nine months to brew – he was a Potion Baby. I'm guessing you probably haven't told him that – it would traumatize the boy if he knew who his other father was. I don't blame you for not telling him. He probably doesn't even know that he has another _father_ and no mother.

Anyway, it was November 13th, 1978 – the dementors were _supposed _to have stolen all of these memories from me, but, somehow, I still have them. Being an Animagus helped me there.

He came out as a tiny little ball of blood – ugly as _hell_. But you cleaned him up, and when he wrapped his tiny hand around my finger for the first time, the part of my heart that hadn't been stolen by you went immediately to him – and then some.

Even though I hated Regulus at the time, you convinced me to make his middle name Regulus – I only agreed because it was the closest to your name you were going to allow, even if I never told you. I wanted to name him completely after you – Remus John Lupin – but you insisted that he didn't have _any _of your names.

In the end, we somehow decided on Samson Regulus Black-Lupin. I claimed it was the most beautiful name I had ever heard – you, on the other hand, weren't so sure.

I saw her next.

She was standing slightly behind him, talking to one of the Weasley boys – the one her age.

Did I mention I've already seen Harry? Well, I did; I saw him as he ran away from his Aunt and Uncle's. Do they treat him okay, Remus? He seemed pretty upset when he left. Do they treat him like the should?

I think I frightened him, because he pulled out his wand and pointed it at me. But he accidentally signaled the Knight Bus, and, while it hid me from view, I ran.

I had wanted to see my kids first, but Harry was on the way, so I stopped to see him. Just a glimpse was enough for me. As soon as I saw him, I left for Diagon Alley – they'd have to show up eventually.

She should have been thirteen now and going into her third year at Hogwarts. She was a mix of the two of us, and if somebody knew us as kids, it was _obvious_ that she was our daughter. She had straight, armpit length, light brown hair with natural, darker highlights – a mixture of our hair colors – and had gray eyes with flecks of amber in them. She was only a few inches sorter than the Weasley boy – I think I heard them call him Ron – who looked pretty tall for his age, and she was beautiful.

I remember the day she was born, too. She was, obviously, a Potion Baby too. It was January 24th, 1980 and this time we already had a name picked out – Riley Lily Black-Lupin. I was prepared for the grossness this time, and I cleaned her off when she came out. Somehow, my heart went out to her, too, and this time as soon as I saw her.

Somehow, my heart was split between the three of you – Remus, Samson, and Riley.

Halloween the next year was the last time I ever saw you. We had gotten into a fight, I don't remember what it was about, and I had stormed out on you while you were crying, going to check on Peter – we had switched secret-keepers and hadn't told you, and I'm so very sorry for not trusting you. I left the kids with you. I still don't know how I could have done this to you, but I did.

When I didn't see Peter, I freaked out. And then when I saw James and Lily, I had no time to be sorrowful.

I was angry. I had never been so angry before. So I found Peter, cornered him, and planned on killing him. I didn't care. The only thing that crossed my mind was "I have to kill Wormtail. I have to kill Wormtail."

And then he blew the street apart, and I thought he had killed himself. That's why I laughed and went with the Dementors with no fuss – I couldn't stand leaving you alone with the kids if Wormtail was still alive to hurt you. All they found of Wormtail was a finger. Good riddance, I said. I later realized you had lost all of your friends in a single day and only had a two year old, who thought that Merlin was a famous Quidditch player, and a two year old who couldn't even say "Merlin" left.

But then I saw the Weasley family in Egypt on the front of the newspaper when Fudge came into Azkaban, and on one of the children's shoulders – Ron, was it? The one that Riley is friends with – was none other than Wormtail – and he was going to Hogwarts, where Harry, Sam, and Riley would be.

That's why I escaped. To protect them.

What surprised me was that Sam and Riley weren't in the picture with the Weasley's. I know that you wouldn't keep them – you'd be afraid you would hurt them – and that Molly is the only person you'd trust them with. But I figured you had kept them while they were in Egypt.

The last one I saw was the one I didn't recognize, but I knew she had to be ours.

She was trailing several feet behind Riley and Ron. She was young, and was complaining about wanting to get her wand – is she going into her first year at Hogwarts, then? If so, she would be eleven, and that would be why I don't know her – you made her after I was locked away, probably out of misery at losing us all.

She resembled you in nearly every way possible; tiny – barely four and a half feet tall, and she looked like she was only eight years old – and _super_ skinny, even though I know Molly feeds them more than enough; straight, waist-length blonde hair – your hair color when you were her age – with bangs. The only way I knew that she was mine, as well, was by her eyes. They were _exactly_ the same color as mine – gray and fathomless. She, like Riley, is beautiful.

I heard her name, then; her full name,

"Abigail Catherine Lupin!"

Sam had shouted it back at her as she was whining again about wanting a wand.

"We will get your wand next if you _stop whining_."

She stopped whining immediately and skipped to catch up with Riley and Ron.

I was amazed at how wonderful they had all turned out – even before I really _knew _them, I could tell they were wonderful children.

I still haven't seen you, though, Remus. I had hoped you would come with Sam and Riley – and now Abigail, or Abbey, as I have heard them call her – but the day I saw them was the day before the full moon, and I understood why you weren't there.

You have no idea how much I want to be with you tomorrow night, Remus, to keep you from having to deal with it all on your own. But I know I can't, and for that I am deeply sorry.

One last thing, Remus; I will _always_ love you.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: I'm continuing this story, but updates will be slow – not _months _apart, I hope, but a week or two almost every time.**

**This chapter is Riley's POV.**

**Thanks HPJellicleCat for the review!**

Chapter 2

It was a normal, warm and sunny day on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon. The light breeze blew in the open windows of the tall, rickety and crooked seven-floor (plus an attic) home at the top of the hill. And even though the home seemed peaceful on the outside, the inside was most certainly not.

"Fred, George, Samson,_ what are you doing?_" Mrs. Weasley shrieked upstairs after yet _another_ explosion. Ginny and I glanced awkwardly and apprehensively up the stairs as thick black smoke came down them toward us, wondering what the three had done now. We saw a tall shape coming down it before my older brother Samson (or Sam, as most people call him, and Sammy to our little sister Abigail) emerged, coughing and waving the smoke away from his face.

"I just want to say I had _nothing _to do with this one, Mrs. Weasley," he said to Mrs. Weasley, who huffed and started to yell up the stairs to Fred and George again. For some reason, I highly doubted that. Sam rolled his eyes and sat down next to Ginny, who inched away from him. "What?" he asked her as he piled huge amounts bacon and eggs onto his plate.

"You're getting soot all over me. You look like you just _flooed _here." Sam looked down at his soot covered clothes, but merely shrugged before shoving bacon into his mouth.

Sam, our little sister Abigail, and I lived with the Weasley's. Our mother had died before we had gotten to know her and we had no memories whatsoever of her. Sam claims that we were adopted, but our dad claimed that that wasn't true – I didn't believe it because Abigail looked _exactly _like Dad except, well, she was a girl and had gray eyes instead of amber. Our dad couldn't take care of us because: A – he was a werewolf; B – he didn't trust himself with us; and C – Sam and I thought that he had trouble maintaining a job and paying for us. Sam claimed he gives us _all _of his money that he doesn't use for food and boarding.

"You know it's all over your hair, too?" I asked Sam, my eyebrows rose – I knew exactly what he was going to do now. Sam frowned before he picked up a spoon and looked at his reflection and then started to rub the soot quickly out of his hair. Ginny and I rolled our eyes before turning back to our food.

"Guess what!" We all jumped and turned toward a small girl, no bigger than the average nine year old standing behind usthem on the stairs which Mrs. Weasley had disappeared up. "We get to go get our Hogwarts things today! Mr. Weasley told me so last night!" Abigail sat down next to Sam, staring up at him.

"What happened to you?" she asked disgustedly. He looked affronted.

"Fred and George," he answered simply. This was a good enough answer for little Abigail as she turned to eat some food. The natural dark brown highlights were now visible in Sam's hair, but that didn't mean he wasn't still covered in black.

There was a knock at the door, and Mrs. Weasley called from upstairs,

"Would somebody please get that?" Sam complied and got up, opening the door.

"Dad!" he exclaimed when he saw Dad on the other side. He was wearing shabby clothing as usual and looked more tired than usual, but, as always, as soon as he saw his kids – us – his eyes lit up and he forgot all of his troubles – if it was obvious enough for me to notice, you know it is obvious.

"Hey buddy!" Dad exclaimed. He went to give Sam a hug, but then he realized that he was covered in soot, and put his hands on his shoulders and pushed him back. "What happened to you?"

"Fred and George," Sam said shortly again. Dad didn't question it; it was a common answer in this household. Instead, he dropped his hands and said,

"My, my, have you grown taller yet again?" Sam laughed and shrugged, for he was now only a few inches shorter than Dad.

"Dad!"

Dad looked past Sam and barely caught a glimpse of Abigail before she threw herself into his arms. He picked her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

"Hey Abbey!" he said, smiling at her as I followed her out. He ruffled my hair, which I patted back down when he messed it up. "Hey Riley."

"Hey Dad," I replied.

"Remus!"

We all turned to see Mrs. Weasley rushing out of the house. She gave Dad a hug, squishing Abigail between them. She pretended to choke, and they let go of each other. Dad laughed and shook his head, setting her back down, but she continued to hang onto his hand.

"Come in, come in, Remus. Guys, make room for Remus."

"Oh, Molly, I can't stay. I just need to talk to my kids for a moment. It's important." Sam, Abigail and I exchanged looks – what would he want to talk to us about that was important? "I'm going to take them to my house for a moment, if that's alright?"

"Of course, of course, they are _your _children after all."

We flooed over to Dad's apartment – it was above some small business in Diagon Alley. It had two bedrooms, a small drawing room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. That was it. It was _tiny_. We weren't allowed to stay the night there – Dad said there was not enough room for the three of us in the extra bedroom. I think he was just afraid that he would somehow end up hurting us.

We crowded around the small square table in the kitchen, and suddenly Dad seemed to get very nervous and twitchy.

"Dad, are you okay?" Sam asked apprehensively. Dad nodded quickly – a little _too _quickly.

"What's going on, Dad?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"I – I – er – "

"Spit it out, Dad!" Sam said rudely. I smacked his arm lightly, giving him a shut-the-hell-up-you-aren't-helping look. He got the message and shut his mouth.

"Okay," Dad said finally. "Okay, have any of you ever heard of potion babies?"

"I have!" Abbey exclaimed – being the youngest and about to start Hogwarts, she liked to show off the few things she _did _know. "I heard Mr. Weasley helping Charlie on his homework about it once a _long _time ago! They're babies that – !"

"We all know what they are, Abbey," I said, interrupting her. "You don't need to explain." She pouted, but shut up.

Potion babies are babies that, instead of growing inside their mother's womb, are "brewed" for nine months in a potion with somethings – hair, blood, etc. – from the parents used to make the child actually blood related. It's a very complicated person, and the babies can be killed or have birth-defects if it was done wrong. Usually, they were used between homosexual couples or couples that couldn't get pregnant, or just couples who didn't want the wife to go through the pain of birth.

"Why are you asking if we know what potion babies are?" Sam asked, although I was pretty certain he thought he knew why. I thought I did, too, and even Abbey looked suspicious.

"We're potion babies, aren't we?" Abbey asked, her eyes wide. Dad looked down at his hands and nodded.

There was silence for a moment, before I asked –

"Why were you so worked up about telling us that? I mean, it's not like there's anything wrong with us – okay, maybe there is something wrong with _these _two – and we can't do anything about it. It's nice you told us, though."

"That's not what I was worried about telling you," Dad said quietly.

"Then what was it?" Abbey pressured, leaning her elbows onto the table. I could tell she was getting bored – she had probably expected this to be something awesome, not being told we were potion babies, especially when half of the wizards and witches alive today probably were too.

"Well...your mother...well, she wasn't a _mother, _exactly_._"

We all knew what he meant instantly – we weren't _that _thick. But it still took a while to sink in.

"Wait," Sam said finally. "You're telling us we have two fathers?" Dad nodded nervously. "We had our suspicions," he said. I smacked him again on the arm.

"You're _so _tactless. No wonder you are best friends with the twins."

"Wait," Dad said suddenly. "You all _knew_?"

"Well, Sam and I thought we did."

"We didn't tell Cat here," Sam said, patting a grumpy looking Abbey on the top of the head. Since Abbey's middle name was Catherine, Sam insisted on calling her "Cat" – she actually seemed to like it, surprisingly.

"That's not it, though," Dad said after a moment of awkward silence. "I wasn't going to tell you this – I never planned on it, but now – well, you'll see why I needed to _now _in a minute." He started to wring his hands together.

"Your other father – it's Sirius Black."

There was yet another, even awkwarder and longer silence than the last ones, before _hell _broke loose.

"You mean, we're related to a _convict_?" I asked.

"Wait – so _that's _who you're always saying I look exactly alike! Ew!" Sam said.

"How did you even get hooked up with him?" we both asked at the same time.

"We don't have a mommy?" Abbey asked sadly, looking down – I think she had always envisioned that we had a _beautiful _mother who taught us and played with us – I had thought so for a long time as well.

And that was what set Dad loose.

He put his elbows on the table and buried his face into his hands and started to cry.

I had never seen Dad cry. Evidently, nor had Sam or Abbey, for we all silenced upon seeing this. None of us moved until Abbey stood up slowly and crawled into Dad's lap like she always did when she was upset, hugging him around the waist.

"It's okay Daddy," she said softly. "We still love you. Don't cry. Please?"

Sam and I understood then that we should do something, and we both stood up and hugged Dad and Abbey as well.

We sat there for who knows how long before Dad finally stopped crying and Sam and I returned to our seats – Abbey stayed on Dad's lap, wiping his tears off of his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, guys – sorry that _that's _how it is, sorry I'm just now telling you, sorry that I just broke down, sorry – "

"Dad," Sam said suddenly. Dad stopped and looked at him questioningly. "Shut up." Dad was shocked – he looked about ready to cry again. "There's nothing to be sorry for. We understand why you didn't tell us, and we aren't sorry that Sirius Black is our dad. We wouldn't be who we are if he wasn't. And we forgive you for actually being with him in the first place – you didn't know he would kill 13 people and join You-Kn – "

"Say the name," Dad instructed; he always told us to say the name, but the Weasley's told us not to.

" – and join Voldemort," Sam continued. "But one thing; is our last name still Lupin?" Dad laughed – Sam _would _ask that, of all things.

"It's actually Black-Lupin, but you can keep Lupin. And you don't have to tell anybody if you don't want to." We simply nodded, and then we were pulled into another hug.

"Thank you, guys, for taking it so well," Dad said once we all let go. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Sorry - My computer messed up and I had to repost this chapter!  
**

**Important – _I've set up a poll for this story on my page – In your opinion, what house should Abigail be in when she goes to Hogwarts? (It's going to probably be Slytherin or Gryffindor but the others are on there anyway) Please vote for what you think! _**

**Since my other story is now over, updates will actually be faster than I had expected! Not everyday like my other story, but maybe once or twice a week. They probably won't be regular updates though.**

**This chapter is Sam's POV.**

**Thanks SIAshyCaT and xXxMrs Salman KhanxXx for the reviews!**

Chapter 3

I didn't know what to think.

When Dad _finally _told us who our "mother," or, as it turned out, our other father, was, I never known how I would react. I had _wanted_ to believe that our mother was a beautiful woman who would have taught us magic before we even started Hogwarts and would play Quidditch and Wizards Chess and Exploding Snap with us. That she would have kept us instead of sent us to the Weasley's – even if that was to "protect us" as Dad put it. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Weasley's, but it would be nice to actually live with your parents. I knew that Riley and Cat had believed that was what our mother was. But I had known better.

But now, knowing that we had another _father _instead of a mother, all I could think about was how Dad had always told me I looked like my "mother." I guessed that meant that I looked like Black – in time, I would probably be able to call him _Father_, but I couldn't bring myself to know – and I had seen pictures of him. I guess it was because he had been in Azkaban for 12 years, but either way, I couldn't help but feel self-conscious.

Once Dad had gotten up to search for something in his room and Riley, Cat, and I were alone, they told me that I was handsome despite Dad's claims that I looked exactly like Sirius Black.

Finally, Dad reappeared from the hallway and handed me a photograph. Confused, I looked down at it.

My eyes widened.

Smiling and waving at the camera I saw Dad. Only, he was younger – probably around 17 years old. There was James Potter next to him, looking _exactly _like Harry and with his arm around a very pretty lady next to him – I figured it was Lily Potter. She had long, dark red hair and the same emerald green eyes as Harry.

And there, standing with one arm around Dad and one around a short, stout boy with a tuft of brown hair on his other side, was none other than Sirius Black.

Only, he was _handsome_. Very, very handsome. He was smiling and laughing at the camera, with hair slightly longer than mine and eyes the exact color of Cat's.

"You're right, Dad," I heard Riley say from over my shoulder. "He _does _look exactly like Sam."

I passed the photo back to Dad. He glanced down at it for a second before looking back at us.

"I have a new job," he said suddenly.

"What is it?" Cat asked as she climbed back onto the chair that was almost too tall for her tiny figure. Dad seemed to pause for dramatic effect, but it was too long – he paused so long that Cat repeated herself.

"It's – er – it's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts."

There was a shocked silence. I couldn't believe it. Dad – a teacher? It would be bizarre!

"Brilliant!" Riley said suddenly. "Finally – a good Defense teacher! You better stay for more than one year!"

"What are you going to do during the full moons?" Cat asked quietly. Dad shrugged.

"I'll figure something out." He glanced at his watch and his eyes widened suddenly. "Shoot! You guys should be back at the Burrow soon – you're going shopping for your Hogwarts things later."

We flooed back to the Burrow, where the calm of Dad's apartment was immediately transferred to the craziness of the Burrow.

"Sam, Riley, Abbey, about time! We were starting to worry!" Mrs. Weasley said, rushing over to us and brushing the soot off of us. "Are you guys ready to go to Diagon Alley?"

"We were just there!" I exclaimed. "Why couldn't we have just met you in Florish and Blots or something?"

"Because, dear," Mrs. Weasley said as she pulled Ron toward the fireplace, "with Sirius Black on the loose we can't do anything safely anymore." Riley, Cat, and I looked pointedly away from each other as Mrs. Weasley sent Ginny through the fireplace, followed by the twins, Percy, Ron, Mr. Weasley, and then I was forced to go.

"Are you guys going to be okay?" Mrs. Weasley fretted as I went to take Riley and Cat to get our things.

"We'll be fine," I assured her, grabbing Cat's hand. She tried to pull away, but when I held on, she sighed and let me hold her hand.

"I want to go with Riley," Ron pouted. "Please Mom? I don't need anything new – well, a new wand, but if you just give me the money we have to go there for Abbey anyway, and – "

"Alright, but behave yourself, Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley said sternly, giving Ron the money he needed to get his wand. "And don't forget to keep an eye out for Hermione and Harry!" Hermione and Harry were Ron and Riley's friends – Harry was staying in the Leaky Cauldron after he blew up his aunt, and Hermione was supposed to meet us here sometime today. We didn't know when, but she would eventually.

I took off in the front, Ron and Riley right behind me, Cat a few feet behind them.

"Can we get my wand first?" she asked.

"No, we're getting your robes first."

"But I want to get my _wand _first!" she whined. I ignored her – Mrs. Weasley had told me, when Cat was younger and much whinier, that the best way to get her to stop was to ignore her. So that's what I did – it had proved effective several times before.

We stopped by Madam Malkin's first, where we were unfortunate enough to run into none other than Draco Malfoy.

Ever since she had first met Malfoy three years ago, Riley had a huge crush on Malfoy. She had claimed that she only thought he was handsome, but Cat and I both knew that she really liked him, despite his crude jokes about how Dad hated us so bad he dumped us on the _Weasley's _doorstep – and then he would always go on to tease Ron about having no money and would get beat up. Cat found it hilarious, but she wasn't there every time – I found it annoying after the first _one-hundred _times.

He was by himself, and was being fitted when we walked in, and didn't notice us until Madam Malkin bustled over toward us.

"Hogwarts?" she asked, oblivious to Malfoy's sneers toward us behind her back. When I replied yes, she added, "All of you?"

"No – just her." I put my hand on Cat's shoulder and pushed her forward slightly. "Unless one of you two need new robes." I turned to Ron and Riley, who both shook their heads – Riley hadn't grown – if she had, she hadn't very not much – and, though Ron had, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley didn't have the money to get him new robes, so they gave him one of the twin's old ones. "Then just one." Madam Malkin nodded and led Cat to the footstool far away from Malfoy – she knew that Weasley's and Malfoy's don't get along.

"Hello Weasel. Where are potty and the Mudblood?" Malfoy drawled. Madam Malkin opened her mouth, astounded that he had said such a word, to reprimand him, but Cat beat her to it.

"Watch your mouth, Malfoy." She looked about ready to curse him, even if she didn't know how or didn't have a wand.

Much to my surprise, Malfoy glanced at her, opened his mouth to retort, but then closed it, a strange look in his eyes. I saw Ron and Riley exchange bewildered glances. Finally, after a moment of silence, Malfoy asked,

"Who are you anyway?" Normally, he would have said it rudely, but something in his voice made it just sound like he was curious. What was going on? Was he getting sick?

"Mind your own business," Cat responded smartly.

"That's you done dear," Madam Malkin said to Cat, who hopped off of the footstool and walked quickly over to us. I paid Madam Malkin and we left in the same fashion we had left the Leaky Cauldron – me in the front, Ron and Riley in the middle, and Cat at the end.

"I want to get my wand now!" Cat whined as we headed down the street. "Please please _please _Sam!" I ignored her. "_Saaam! Pleeeease?_ I'll love you forever – !"

"Abigail Catherine Lupin! We will get your wand next if you _stop whining_." She stopped whining immediately and skipped to catch up with Riley and Ron.

As soon as we got to Ollivander's, I had Cat go first, for I knew that if I had Ron go before her, she would never let it drop. It only took a few wands for her to find hers; ten inches, holly, unicorn tail center. Ron went next; it took several more tries for him to find his perfect wand, but finally he managed to. Riley found it quite funny that Ron and Cat both ended up with unicorn tail center. When we left, we were surprised to hear someone calling Ron and Riley's name.

"Riley, Ron!"

We all turned to see a bushy-haired girl running up to us – Hermione.

"Hey Hermione!" Riley exclaimed. "How are you?"

They exchanged pleasantries and then we headed off to Florish and Blotts to get our new books. Riley, Ron, and Hermione went off to get their Monster Books, and I saw the manager nearly cry when they said they needed three. Cat headed off in the direction of some free reading books, and I knew that I would have to get her school books for her, for she would never want to leave that section – she loved to read, but not school books – Riley and I had lent her a few of our books over the summers, and she would always read a page and then give them back.

We finished quickly and then headed out to see if Harry was at the Leaky Cauldron – Mr. Weasley knew he was staying there, and Hermione was starting to get really worried about him, despite Riley and Ron's cries of "Hermione, he's not a child, he can take care of himself!" and Cat's cries of "Oh, just _shut up _already! He's _fine_!" – and she had never even met Harry before.

"Hey look!" Cat said suddenly, pointing to an alleyway off of the side of the road. "It's a dog!" I turned and saw a big black dog large as a bear, with gleaming eyes, hiding there staring at us. He was scroungy looking, as though he was starving – which he probably was, for he looked like a stray dong.

"It's kind of scary looking," Riley commented.

"It kind of looks like Sirius Black," Ron said, looking from the wanted poster nearby to the dog and back. I was upset at him for practically just saying that scroungy dog looked like me – which it most certainly did _not_ – but I knew that he didn't know he had just said that.

"I've always wanted a dog," Cat continued as if she hadn't heard Riley and Ron speak. "Dad told me I could get a pet, since you two did when you started Hogwarts."

"Get an owl – you can't have dogs at Hogwarts," I pointed out, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from the dog. Ron and Riley followed. "Plus, owls actually can _do _something."

"I think I'd rather have a cat," she said, pulling her hand out of my grasp. I laughed at the irony and she shot me a glare, but didn't say anything about it. "I mean, if I need to use an owl, you and Riley both have one."

"You're not using Cosmo," Riley said sternly.

"Or Evan," I added. Cat rolled her eyes.

"You guys will let me if I ask, and I know it. Or I can use Holly." Holly was Dad's owl – when we were at school or the Burrow, she would visit us once a week, even if she didn't have a letter. Dad claimed he never sent her – a lie that Cat believed, but Riley and I knew better.

As we sat down by the ice cream shop for a short break from walking and shopping, Hermione suddenly shouted,

"Harry! HARRY!" I spun in my seat to see Harry Potter walking toward us. His hair was just as messy as before, he looked as if he had grown a good four inches since the last time I had seen him, his eyes as green as ever. He walked quickly over, smiling, and took the empty seat between Ron and Hermione.

"Finally!" Ron said, grinning at Harry. "We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd left, and we went to Flourish and Blotts, and Madam Malkin's, and – "

"Yes, but we didn't actually _look _there," Cat said.

"Shut up, Abbey," Riley said distractedly.

"I got all my school stuff last week," Harry explained, ignoring Ron and Cat's bickering as if he was used to it – which he was, probably, considering he was best friends with Ron and Hermione. "And how come you knew I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Dad," Ron answered. Harry would understand – he had met our Dad and knew he worked at the Ministry and that he would know the full story.

"Did you really blow up your aunt, Harry?" Hermione asked seriously. Ron and Cat roared with laughter – Riley and I sniggered. Hermione glared at us. "It's not funny! I'm honestly amazed that he wasn't expelled!"

"Oh come on, you have to admit, Hermione, it's hilarious!" Cat exclaimed – she was the only person that I knew brave enough to challenge Hermione, and that was probably because she didn't knowHermione the way the rest of us did. "_Especially _if this aunt was anything like his _real _Muggle relatives."

"She's worse, believe me. But I'm surprised I wasn't expelled too," admitted Harry. "Forget expelled, I thought I was going to be arrested." He looked at Ron. "Your dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?"

"Probably 'cause it's you, isn't it?" Ron shrugged, still chuckling. "Famous Harry Potter and all that. Anyway, you can ask Dad yourself this evening. We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight too! So you can come to King's Cross with us tomorrow! Hermione's there as well!" Hermione nooded.

"Mom and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things."

"Excellent!" Harry said happily. "So, have you got all your new books and stuff?"

"Yep," Riley answered. "What about those Monster Books, eh? The assistant nearly cried when we said we wanted three."

"I've still got ten Galleons," Hermione said distractedly, checking her purse. "It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present."

"How about a nice book? Ron said innocently. Cat sniggered behind her hand.

"No, I don't think so," Hermione said, ignoring his laughing. "I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig, Riley's got Cosmo, and you've got Errol —"

"I haven't," Ron said. "Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers." He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. Cat, who hated rats and all of their forms – especially Scabbers – recoiled. "And I want to get him checked over. I don't think Egypt agreed with him."

"There's a pet shop over there," said Cat suddenly. I wondered how she knew that, but figured that she had always payed more attention than me and knew Diagon Alley well.

"You could see if they've got anything for Scabbers, Hermione can get her owl, and Cat can get her cat," Riley said. We paid for our ice cream and headed down the street to the pet shop.

There were all sorts of magical animals imaginable there. Hermione darted to the owls, and Cat followed Ron, Harry, Riley, and I. We were headed to the counter, but the cats were at the back, so she had to pass us. Ron asked the witch at the counter about helping him and Cat looked at the cats from her position next to us.

"Why don't you go back there to look at the cats?" I asked her.

"Because – " she started, but was interrupted by Ron.

"Ouch!" he yelled. A big orange cat had attacked him and almost sent Scabbers running – he leaped off of the counter and I stomped on his tail as the cat ran off so fast it was hard to see.

"What was that?" Riley asked as she picked Scabbers up and handed him to Ron.

"Either a very large cat or a very small tiger," Harry said, looking around for the cat.

"I'd go with the tiger," Cat muttered as she pushed past us to the cats in the back of the store. Harry, Riley, and Ron got annoyed with the cat that they couldn't find to keep an eye on, so, after Ron paid for some rat tonic, they left the store to wait at the Leaky Cauldron. I stayed inside with Cat, and soon she had picked out a small, furry Siamese kitten.

"Her name's Phoenix, and she's half-Kneezle," she told after we had paid for him and headed outside, where Hermione stood, her arms wrapped around the ginger cat who had attacked Ron and looking around.

"You _bought _that thing?" Cat asked, astounded.

"He's gorgeous, isn't he?" Hermione asked, beaming.

"Sure," Cat said. But she didn't sound sure at all. "Ron's going to hate this, y'know?"

"Great, _more _bickering," I sighed as I led the girls toward the Leaky Cauldron.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Important – _I've set up a poll for this story on my page – In your opinion, what house should Abigail be in when she goes to Hogwarts? (It's going to probably be Slytherin or Gryffindor but the others are on there anyway) Please vote for what you think, or leave me a comment saying what you think and why, soon because I have to know by next chapter because that is when the sorting is!_**

**Thanks x3paiger and HPJellicleCat for the reviews!**

**This chapter is in Riley's POV again.  
**

Chapter 4

"Did you hear Mr. Weasley say that Dementors were going to be at Hogwarts this year?"

It was late that night at the Leaky Cauldron. Abbey, Sam, and I were sitting in mine and Abbey's room – Sam had been staying in a room with the twins, but he had snuck out and woke us up. It was the first time alone we had had since we had seen Dad. We had all squeezed onto Abbey's bed with her squished between Sam and I.

"Yeah," Abbey answered. "It sucks. Those things freak me out."

"You've never even seen one," Sam pointed out. Abbey yawned.

"Doesn't mean they don't scare me. Dad's told me about them before. They sound creepy." Silence overcame us again.

We hadn't said anything about Sirius Black yet. It would only be awkward and would probably just upset each of us in different ways – Abbey because she had always wanted a mother, Sam because he was told he looked exactly like a criminal, murderer, and Death Eater, me because Dad hadn't trusted us enough to tell us.

"I wonder why, if our last name is really Black-Lupin, why it appears merely _Lupin_ on the map," Sam said suddenly. It took me a minute to realize what he was talking about. What map? But then I remembered that he had told Abbey and I about a map that Fred and George had found in their first year and showed to him. We were the only two, besides the twins and Sam, that knew about it.

"I would say that Dad fixed it, but what are the chances that he actually knew what it was or that it existed?"

"Highly unlikely," I agreed.

After a few more brief statements, Sam went back to his room and Abbey and I went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning was hectic. The only time I actually had time to _think _was when Harry muttered under his breath to Ron and I before we went to breakfast,

"I've got something to tell you." At first, my only thought was: _What now? If it's a stone or chamber, count me out! _But when we were joined by Percy, he had said, "Later." It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about it in front of people, but it was the way he had said it. He seemed almost...urgent? Upset? Was that _fear_? I couldn't tell what exactly it was, but it wasn't good. I was suddenly very apprehensive.

I barely thought about anything else the whole way to the station and even once we got there. But I did notice that Mr. Weasley was constantly by Harry's shoulders and pulled him away once we were on the platform, and that Mrs. Weasley kept glancing worriedly at Harry, Abbey, Sam and I. I figured I knew why she was worried about Abbey, Sam and I, but what did Harry have to do with it?

Luckily, the twins and Sam invited Abbey to sit with them on the train – even though she was four years younger than the three of them, they were all quite close. She was closer to them than she was to me.

We had to wait for Harry while he was talking to Mr. Weasley. I could have sworn I heard, "Black", "wants", and "kill", which only caused me even more apprehension than before.

"I need to talk to you in private," Harry said to Ron, Hermione and I as we searched for a compartment. I heard, distantly, Ron send Ginny away, but didn't pay attention – what did Black have to do with this?

The only compartment that wasn't full contained – unfortunately or fortunately, I didn't know – Dad. He was sleeping, and I realized that it was the day after the full moon.

"Who do you reckon he is?" Harry asked as we entered. Ron glanced at me, confused, and I realized that Sam, Abbey, and I had forgotten to tell them that Dad was teaching this year.

"Professor R.J. Lupin," Hermione answered, giving me an odd glance, at the same time as I said,

"Professor Lupin." Harry gave us a weird look – apparently not noticing that he and I shared a last name – and asked,

"How'd you know that?" but before either Hermione or I could answer, Ron asked,

"What's your Dad doing here, Riley?" Harry and Hermione turned to me, stunned into silence, and I closed the compartment door, shrugging nonchalantly.

"He's teaching this year." Ron and Harry spoke at the same time.

"Really? Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked.

"He's your dad?" Harry asked, still stunned. I ignored them and asked Hermione how _she _knew who he was. She pointed to his suitcase, where "Professor R.J. Lupin" was stamped in peeling letters.

"He looks sick. Is he alright?" Hermione asked. I nodded.

"He's fine. So what did you have to tell us, Harry?" The three noticed the sudden change in subject, but didn't comment as Harry launched into the story of what he had overheard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley discussing. When he'd finished, Ron looked thunderstruck, Hermione had her hands over her mouth, and I knew that I looked more stunned than either of them. My father wanted to kill my best friend?

Hermione finally lowered her hand to say, "Sirius black escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry...you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry..."

"I don't go looking for trouble," Harry said. "Trouble usually find me."

"How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" Ron asked nervously.

It was obvious that wewere taking the news worse than Harry had expected. He seemed stunned that we were all so frightened. Both Ron and Hermione seemed to be much more frightened of Black than Harry seemed to be. I, on the other hand, probably didn't look frightened – I was probably pale, with wide, stunned eyes, my mouth hanging open.

"Are you okay, Riley?" Hermione asked suddenly, and I noticed the three of them glancing worriedly at me. "You seem more afraid than you ever have before." I glanced toward Dad, wondering if he was really asleep or not, and said quickly,

"I'm fine." They didn't seem to believe me, and I saw Dad stir slightly in his "sleep" as they went on to discuss Black and then Hogsmeade. They _must _have noticed I wasn't joining into the conversation like usual, but they didn't comment. Once the witch with the food came by, I didn't even buy anything – which was completely out of character for me. Plus, I didn't join into the conversation when Draco Malfoy came in to taunt us. Even though I found him nice looking, I didn't like him – okay, let's be honest, I had a crush on him that I _hated, _but I couldn't control it. The stupid crush also made me hate him, though, which was why I always wanted to fight him with Ron.

A few minutes after Malfoy had left, I had a sudden idea. I stood up so fast I became dizzy, but didn't let it deter me. "I'll be right back." The three called after me, trying to make sure that I was okay, but I slammed the door shut behind me.

I walked – almost ran – quickly down the train, glancing in each compartment as I passed until I finally saw one with Fred and George, Lee Jordan, Sam and Abbey in it. I poked my head in and all eyes turned to me. Before anybody could say anything, I said urgently,

"Abbey, Sam, I need to talk to you. _Now_." Somehow, we found an empty compartment near the front and sat down together. When I could only stare at my hands, Sam asked,

"What's wrong, Riley?" I swallowed and then looked up at the two of them across from me.

"Black – Dad – is after Harry. He wants to kill him." Before they could even register what I had said, I said, "Mr. Weasley told Harry, and he told Ron, Hermione and I."

"W – What?" Abbey asked.

"Why?"

"Mr. Weasley claims that he thinks it will bring You-Know-Who back to life. But _really_, even if I was a Death Eater, I wouldn't believe that! It's so stupid!"

"Nobody related to us could be _that _stupid," Sam agreed, and Abbey nodded in agreement.

"I don't know, then," I said. "But it _freaked me out_. My _dad _is out to _kill _my _best friend_!" Sam moved over and sat next to me, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"This year is going to be hard," he said quietly. "For all of us. Especially if he isn't caught, or gets spotted near Hogwarts. We've just got to keep our head. We aren't our parents. Nobody will find out unless we tell them, or Dad does, and you know he won't. Don't give anybody a reason to make you suspicious."

"I just – I – I wish that he wasn't a murderer."

"We all do," Abbey said. I looked up at her. She seemed to be taking the news hard as well, but it looked like she was trying to keep her composure so I wouldn't get even more freaked out. "But we can't do anything about it. Sam's right – we aren't our parents." I looked away from Abbey and out the window. It was getting dark, and I figured that we would be arriving at Hogwarts soon.

"What if – what if he's after us, too? Or just us, and not Harry?" I asked quietly. "It's obvious he doesn't want kids. If he cared about his family, he wouldn't have murdered 13 people." Sam opened his mouth to say something, but the train suddenly jolted to a stop. The lights flickered before turning off completely.

"What's going on?" Abbey asked, her voice shaking. "Does it always do this?" I shook my head, then realized she couldn't see me, and I answered worriedly,

"Not in my time here."

The door suddenly opened, and three figure ran in all and three nearly tripped over my feet. Sam and I lit my wand to see –

"Malfoy!" Sam hissed. "Crabbe! Goyle! What are you doing in here? Go back to your own compartment!" But Malfoy only stuttered out, shrinking against the back wall, followed by Crabbe and Goyle,

"D-D-Dementors! On the train!" My eyes met Sam's, and I saw Abbey's eyes widen out of the corner of mine. Sam slammed the door shut and locked it.

We waited in silence before, a few moments later, the door slid open and a huge, floating, cloaked object floated in. Everything went cold – Abbey let out a whimper of fear, and I started to shiver from the cold. My insides seemed to freeze. I felt like I would never be cheerful again. No wonder most of the people in Azkaban go crazy, and that Black escaped – maybe he just wanted to get away from these creatures.

The Dementor seemed to look around the compartment – at least, it looked like it looked around – and then glided out. The door slammed shut behind it, and a few seconds later the lights were back on. Malfoy was cowering in the corner, Crabbe and Goyle's eyes were wide, Abbey was shivering and looked about ready to cry, and Sam merely sat in shock.

A few seconds after the train started moving, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle quickly got up and left like nothing had happened. Sam moved over to sit next to Abbey and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"You okay?" he asked uncertainty. She nodded shakily, but said nothing.

"We should get back," I said finally. "People are going to start to worry." We got up and left the compartment. Abbey and Sam went into theirs, and I heard Fred and and George questioning them when they entered. I entered my compartment to find Dad about to leave. Neville, Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione each held pieces of chocolate that I knew Dad had given them. They all turned to me when I entered, and before I could say anything, Dad ushered me out into the hallway, closing the door behind him. He handed me a large piece of chocolate, which I bit into gratefully, and said,

"You okay?" I nodded. "And Abbey and Sam?" I nodded again.

"Abbey was pretty shaken up, but she's okay," I said. Dad nodded, and then glanced around and when he saw nobody still lowered his voice.

"Listen," he said quietly. "Don't get so upset over what Harry told you – "

"Aha!" I exclaimed. "So you _were _awake!" He shrugged and continued.

" – it's nothing to get worked up over." I nodded.

"I know. It's just hard not to y'know?"

"I know," he said softly. "And I'm sure_ you _can handle it. Being friends with Harry Potter, you're used to it. And I'm not even worried about _Sam_. It's Abbey that I'm worried about." He sighed, and I realized why he was worried about Abbey. She wasn't one to just take something rude being said to her – she would either retaliate, punch the person, or get overly emotional and get really upset.

It was going to be a really tough year.

**A/N: Don't forget to take the poll on my page, or leave a comment saying which Hogwarts house you think Abbey should be in!**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: So it was a clear win by Gryffindor in the poll! I decided also that Gryffindor would probably work better for the plot lines, so it all worked out in the end.**

**Thanks sweetteetwo, HPJellicleCat, and schempgirl for the reviews!**

**This chapter is Abbey's POV.**

**Oh, and by the way, in this chapter "Sean" is pronounced "Shawn".**

Chapter 5

I didn't want to ride on the boats to the castle.

It wasn't that I didn't like boats – which I didn't, but that wasn't what worried and annoyed me most – or that I didn't like Hagrid – on the contrary, the several times I had seen him, he had been very kind and friendly toward me, telling me about Hogwarts and stories about Fred and George's pranks. It was just that I didn't want to have to leave Sam, Fred, George, and Lee. As I walked toward Hagrid's looming figure calling the first years to him, I felt like a child. I hated that – I had always wanted to be older, like Sam and Riley.

"All right, Abigail?" he called. I looked up at his huge form – even huger to me than the average student since I was so darn small – and smiled a fake smile.

"Hey, Hagrid!" I said cheerfully, though I wasn't cheerful. I _loved _being at Hogwarts, I truly did, but I wanted to ride up with Sam and/or Riley and ignore the sorting and not have to worry about being in Slytherin and disappointing Dad.

While I was listening to Hagrid tell something to two first year boys who were pestering him, I felt a weird prickling on the back of my neck, like somebody was staring at me. I spun around and my eyes met similar gray ones belonging to a familiar white-blonde head. Malfoy.

I scowled at him, and he looked away quickly, pretending that he hadn't been looking at me and joining back into the conversation with a tall black boy. I continued to scowl in his direction as I clambered into the first boat I saw beside a frightened looking girl with softly curled, light brown hair reaching just to her shoulders. She glanced up at me with wide eyes before looking away again toward the shadows of the castle on the lake.

"Hello," I said as I sat beside her.

"H – Hi," she stuttered, refusing to meet my eyes or even look at me. I opened my mouth to introduce myself, but cut off as I felt the boat sink slightly under more weight and turned to see the two rowdy boys who had been pestering Hagrid climbing into the boats. Why hadn't I decided to get into one of the fuller boats so these two couldn't join me?

But to my surprise, they were silent as Hagrid sent the boats off, and followed the other girl and I off up to the castle, staring in wonderment at the tall towers, stunned by its beauty into silence. I was just as stunned, but I giggled slightly at the look on the boys' faces. They both heard me and one of them shot me a slight glare, but the other flashed a dazzling smile at me, causing the other to drop his glare and ignore me.

Hagrid knocked three times on the door, and it swung open immediately. I would have known from stories that it was Professor McGonagall on the other side even if Sam and Riley hadn't told me she was the one who took us from there.

The twins and Sam had tried to convince me that you had to wrestle a troll to determine what house you would be placed in, but Ron and Ginny had told me the truth, saying they had tried to convince both of them the same exact thing and told me that you only had to try on a hat.

Before I knew it, we were entering the Great Hall. Naturally, after spending the last day with Hermione, the first place I looked was the ceiling, which was completely black beside a few glittering stars and a moon off to the side. The four long house tables were filled with students watching us, and I smiled at Ron and Riley and waved to Sam and the twins. I didn't see Harry or Hermione anywhere, but my mind didn't rest on it.

I was nervous and anxious at the same time – the two seemed to go hand-in-hand. I was so nervous, in fact, that I didn't even hear the Sorting Hat's song, and was pulled out of my thoughts by McGonagall announcing "Andrews, David" and one of the rowdy boys in our boat – the one who had smiled at me – with shaggy dark brown hair nearly ran up to the hat and pulled it on. It was only on for about a minute before the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

The frightened girl on the same boat as me was called up as "Elmsford, Emily" and, much to my surprise considering how afraid she seemed on the boat, was pronounced as a Gryffindor. "Finley, Troy" followed her to Gryffindor, and "Greengrass, Astoria" was sent to Slytherin, looking slightly disappointed.

"Lupin, Abigail." I walked up to the stool, managing to somehow control my shaking legs. I glanced up at Dad, who winked at me, causing me to smile as the hat was dropped onto my head.

"Hmm, about time that father of yours told you," the hat told me – luckily, I had known this was coming, for if I hadn't, I might have been so shocked I would have shrieked – no wonder so many students had jumped. "You're very difficult to place. Courageous, loyal, smart, and cunning – all houses could work for you. But I already know where you should go." It paused. "For the record, I don't think your father could have done what they blame of him. And remember, I've seen the inside of his mind." Then he yelled out suddenly, "GRYFFINDOR!"

I was shocked as I sat between the twins, both of which patted me on the back. It wasn't that I had made Gryffindor, but because of what the hat had said. Had it practically just told me that it thought that Sirius Black was innocent?

As the hat shouted "RAVENCLAW!" I was pulled out of my thoughts and looked back toward the front of the room. Dad was watching me carefully – had he noticed me get all stiff and stunned for a moment? It seemed like he had, but I glanced away and pushed it out of my thought as the boy who had glared at me with short auburn hair was called up as "Platte, Sean" and almost instantly pronounced a Gryffindor.

The last to get sorted was "Wood, Adelaide" who went to Gryffindor along with her twin sister Addison.

"Are they Wood's sisters?" I heard Sam ask Fred and George. Wood was their Quidditch captain – Fred and George played beaters and Sam played Chaser, the only guy chaser on the team. One of the twins shrugged, and the other – I guessed Fred, he always spoke first – said,

"We don't know him very well off of the Quidditch pitch."

"So we wouldn't know if he had sisters," George (Fred?) finished. But when we saw them both sitting on either side of Oliver Wood, we figured that they were his sisters.

Just then, Dumbledore stood up, and the whole hall quietly.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore said. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious – " I started to giggle, unable to stop myself, and the twins glanced at me with furrowed eyebrows.

"What?" one of them asked as Sam turned toward me as well.

"It's very _serious_ – geddit? You know he's going to talk about _Sirius _Black." Fred and George laughed, and Sam rolled his eyes, turning back toward Dumbledore.

"As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business." He paused, and I recalled Mr. Weasley saying that Dumbledore didn't like the Dementors.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," he continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises — or even Invisibility Cloaks." I saw his eyes stray toward Harry, and I smiled – Riley had told me that Harry had an Invisibility Cloak.

"It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the Dementors," he said. I looked pointedly away from Percy – I didn't want to see him puff out his chest as if he was so important.

"On a happier note," Dumbledore continued, suddenly happy. "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year." I looked to Dad, who was looking pointedly away from the Gryffindor table.

"First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was some scattered, unenthusiastic applause from everywhere except the Gryffindor table. Fred, George, and Sam wolf-whistled, and I tried to, but when I was unable to even when George tried to teach me, I just yelled. Riley, Ron, and Ginny were clapping especially hard, and Harry and Hermione were clapping harder than most everybody else as well.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the applause for Dad died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

Once again, Fred, George, and Sam wolf-whistled, and I tried to again. I might have managed a slight whistle, but it couldn't be heard over Ron thumping on the table not far away and Riley, Harry and Hermione clapping as loud as possible. Hagrid looked down at his hands, his face red.

"Well, I think that is everything of importance," Dumbledore said. "Let the feast begin!" The golden plates on the table in front of us were suddenly filled with food, and I smiled at the amount of food there was. Even Mrs. Weasley couldn't make so much – of course, as soon as I tasted it, I realized that the food wasn't as _good_ as hers though.

Once Dumbledore had released us, instead of following the prefects like the other first years did, I followed Sam and the twins. Luckily, they were all tired, and went straight to the Common Room instead of trying to confuse me by taking some crazy long route.

"What's the password?" we had to ask a passing prefect when we reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Fortuna Major," he answered before yelling at some first years headed in the wrong direction.

I didn't even look around the Common Room before I headed up to the dormitories. Three girls were already up there – a girl who I remembered from the Sorting as Romilda Vane and the Wood twins. Romilda Vane smiled at me, and one of the twins said,

"Hello – Abigail, wasn't it?" I nodded a I flopped onto the bed with my suitcase beside it, located two from the door between Romilda and one of the twins.

"You can call me Abbey if you'd like," I said quietly, closing my eyes sleepily.

"I'm Addison," the other twin said. "That's Adelaide and Romilda." She pointed to her sister and then to Romilda as she said their names. "Are you related to Professor Lupin? I noticed that you had the same last name as him." I smiled and nodded, even though it could be hard to tell since I was laying down.

"He's my father."

"Really?" Adelaide said. "That would be – " But what it would be, I never found out, as the door to the room opened and the frightened girl on the boat – Emily Elmsford – entered. She still looked frightened – not quite as frightened as before, but frightened nonetheless.

"Hello," Romilda said friendlily. Emily looked at her, but still said nothing. "Are you muggleborn?" she asked. Emily nodded almost imperceptibly, and Romilda smiled at her. "That's why your so frightened. There's no need to be – we're all friends."

And that's all I remembered – next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by one of the twins.

"Wake up sleepy," she said, smiling. "You were out before any of us." I sat up and rubbed my eyes groggily. She laughed as she sat back onto her bed – I realized that it was Adelaide, for her bed was right next to mine. "It's still kind of early, but I didn't know if you wanted to shower or how long you took to get ready." I stretched my back and said,

"Thanks."

After quickly getting ready, I headed down to the Common Room. A few students sat around and I saw the two boys – David Andrews and Sean Platte – who had been in the same boat as Emily and I on the lake playing a game of wizard's chess. As I passed them, I stopped next to them and asked,

"Aren't you going to get something to eat?"

"We already did," Sean answered without looking up. "We were up early, excited about our first class today."

"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts first with the Slytherins with your dad," David said, also not looking up. "Professor Lupin _is_ your dad, right?" he added, finally looking up at me as Sean took his turn. "I mean, you look _exactly _like him _and _have the same last name." I nodded as I started to go toward the portrait hole.

"Yes," I replied. "He's my dad, and he's going to be the best teacher Hogwarts has ever seen."

"Fat chance," I heard Sean say as the portrait hole opened for me. "Hogwarts has seen too many teachers for that to be true."

But I knew it would be true, for when I entered the classroom – early so I could talk to Dad – I saw him moving all of the desks into two lines long lines facing each other with about ten feet between them..

"What are you doing that for?" I asked. He jumped and turned sharply toward me – he obviously hadn't expected me, and I had scared him. I laughed lightly at him, and he smiled at me as I closed the door behind me. "You should have known I would come early."

"Well I decided that instead of starting off the first lesson with the first years with a lecture, we should get straight to defensive spells. You never know when another Dark Wizard will come along." I was sure there was another reason for it that had to do with Sam, Riley, Harry, and I, but I didn't say anything to him – it was obvious he didn't want me to know.

I hopped up onto one of the desks and leaned backward onto the palms of my hands.

"Great!" I said. "What are we starting with?"

"Disarming."

"Isn't that a second-year spell?" I asked as he waved his wand and the final desk and chair moved to one of the lines. He nodded, walking back toward me, and leaned against the same desk I was sitting on.

"So? The other years are very far behind – we might as well get the first years above the required level in case you get another stupid teacher next year."

"Wait," I asked, my eyebrows furrowed. "Won't you be staying to teach next year?" He rose his eyebrows at me.

"For the girl full of questions about Hogwarts as a child, you should know how the position as Defense teacher is – supposedly – jinxed. And has anybody since Bill has been here lasted for over a year?" I thought back, and realized that nobody had. There had been too many teachers for me to count – Professor Bidding, Professor Perkins, Madam Pippins, Professor Quentin, Professor Lockart, and many, many more.

Just ask I opened my mouth to respond, the door opened and David Andrews and Sean Platte entered. I noticed that they looked excited for class, which surprised me – they hadn't struck me as the type to actually be _excited _about class. Then I realized that it was probably just _Defense _they were excited about.

"Good morning boys," Dad said brightly. "Take a seat wherever you'd like." Platte looked about ready to sit a few seats down from me, but when Andrews sat directly beside me, he came back and sat beside him.

"Why are the desks in a circle, sir?" Platte asked.

"Well, Sean," Platte seemed shocked that Dad knew his name, but tried to cover it up unsuccessfully. "We are starting with a practical lesson."

"Cool, sir!" Andrews exclaimed. "What are we starting with?"

"You'll have to wait and see," Dad said mysteriously as he walked over to his desk in the front of the room and several more students entered. They didn't look familiar to me, so I assumed they were Slytherin, but I had no way to be sure until they sat on the complete other side of the room, shooting Andrews, Platte, and I looks of loathing.

"Hey Abbey."

I turned and saw the Wood twins putting their stuff on the desk beside mine.

"Hey," I replied, purposefully not adding a name, for I wasn't sure which was Addison and which was Adelaide. The one directly next to me laughed at my bewildered expression.

"I'm _Addison_," she said. "You can tell by our eye color. My eyes are more blue, Adelaide's are more green." When I looked, I realized that she was right, and I tried to force myself to remember.

Just then, the bell rang, and a few students who were running late ran in as the last chime ended. Dad, however, pretended not to notice, and even took no note of the three Slytherins who came in three minutes late and instead had them take the three empty seats.

Dad had us pair up in partners to practice disarming, and I paired up with Addison while Adelaide paired with Emily.

"I'll go first, shall I?" she said as the room filled with sudden chatter. I shrugged, indifferent, and she yelled "_Expelliarmus!_" My wand gave a very faint twitch – only enough for me to notice – and Addison shrugged. "Oh well. Your turn."

"_Expelliarmus!" _I shouted, and, much to my surprise, Addison's wand was yanked out of her hand and landed about a foot from her. Dad, who had been one of the few to notice, came over to me and said,

"Good job!" He bent down beside me and whispered into my ear so only I could hear, "You take after your dad," before he quickly walked over to help Adelaide with her wand movements, leaving me bewildered and wondering _which _of my dads I took after.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**

**The next chapter is going to be short. It's going to be Remus' POV – well, sort of. It's in a letter form to Sirius. Stay tuned!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks Duskfire1954 for the review!**

**This one is Remus' POV, and fairly short as well.**

Chapter 6

_Sirius,_

_I know I'll never send this. You'll never know _anything _that I put into this letter. But I can't keep it in anymore, and since James and Peter are gone, and you probably want me to be dead, I have nobody to talk to. _

_I miss you. I don't know why, after what you did, but I do. Every night, I dream about the happy days we once spent at Hogwarts, and, more often than not, cry myself to sleep, wanting those days back. But I don't know why it still makes me happy. It's like, just to see you again, would be the happiest day of my life. But I also know that I _don't _want to see you, because it would remind me of everything that you did._

_I still remember the day – the _moment – _I had realized that I was in love with you._

_It was the day after you came back from a date with Annie Mina in our fifth year, and you told James, Peter, and I that you had had sex with her. Honestly, none of us were surprised – in fact, we had been discussing just before you had come back that that was probably what was taking so long. Beside, you had had sex with almost every girl in the school by then. _

_I had been crushing on you for about a year, but I knew that you were straight – you were the school's player, it was _obvious _that you were. But when you told us what you had done with her, my heart broke. I guess _I _wanted to be the one that you did it with, even if it was only for one time, and then when I saw the look of sadness and not ecstasy on your face when you told us you had broken up with her afterward – nothing new there, either – my heart broke even more._

_It's a good thing that I was a good actor and could keep my true feelings hidden until later that night, when I started to cry when I was sure you were all asleep. But you weren't – you heard me, came over to my bed, sat next to me and asked me what was wrong. Of course, I tried to lie and hide it, but you wouldn't believe me, so I just told you I didn't want to talk about it._

_You accepted this answer, but you stayed with me until I had cried myself to sleep, and I woke up in the middle of the night to find you still in my bed, asleep. _

_Actually, you were just pretending to be asleep, and when you felt me stir, you asked me if I was okay. And just before you parted to go back to your own bed, you kissed the top of my head, leaving me to stare after you, mortified, as you clambered into your bed, oblivious of my stares._

_It was only a week later that you admitted you were gay, and two weeks later that we got together._

_You had promised_ _that you wouldn't leave. _Promised. _But you did leave on that fateful Halloween._

_I still remember that day, too._

_As soon as you were gone and I had calmed down considerably, I felt that something was wrong. Very wrong. You had said you were going to visit Peter, so I decided to go see James and Lily. I took Sam and Riley and we flooed to their house – _

_Only to find it in ruins, and their lifeless bodies lying on the ground. Aurors were there, and they tried to get me to talk, but I couldn't. My voice had closed up, and I could only think one thing – _You _had done this, and then I blamed myself._

_Did you do it because you were mad at me? I had thought so for a long time – still do, as a matter of fact. I blame myself. You decided to hand them over because you were mad at me? And then to kill poor Peter? Because of _me? _How could you? If it was hard to believe that you had even thought of doing those things, it was even harder to believe that you had done so because you were mad. Then again, you had always had a temper._

_When I got the news that they had caught you and that I could visit you before they sent you to Azkaban without a trial, I couldn't bring myself to do it. After all you had done, you didn't deserve to see me or Sam or Riley a final time before you were sent away for life. Honestly, it hurt me more than it probably hurt you._

_I still think that there was no way you could have done this. _No way_. But you did. The evidence is against you. Aurors _saw_ you kill Peter and those Muggles._

_So now, 12 years later, I'm sitting in my office at Hogwarts and, in a last fit of helplessness, writing a letter to the man who destroyed my life. It will never get sent. I already know that. But maybe, writing it, will help me get it out of my head._

_When I told them – Sam, Riley, and Abbey – that you were their father a few days ago, do you know how crushed they were? Only little Abigail – a month after you had left, I needed something to keep me going, Sam and Riley weren't enough, so I had her – anyway, only Abbey was upset that she didn't have a mother, but Sam and Riley were upset because their father was a mass murderer. You should have seen their faces – it would have crushed even you._

_I'm sure Sam and Riley will be able to handle all of the pressure of all of the news about you this coming year, but I'm afraid Abbey won't be able to. She's only in her first year, and she doesn't know how to handle pressure as well as the other two. After she was sorted, I noticed her get really tense, and she seemed shocked about something. I wanted to ask her what the Sorting Hat had told her, but I didn't want to pry, so I didn't._

_Earlier this morning, during the first years' first lesson in defense, she disarmed her partner on her first try, and I couldn't help but be reminded of you. I told her that she took after her dad – but I didn't tell her _which _dad. As I walked away, a look of wonderment and confusion enveloped her. But, to my surprise, she didn't look mad. This just prompted me to ask her what the Hat had said, for I knew that before this, she would have been upset if I had told her she reminded me of you._

_Later that night, while Sam, Riley, and Abbey were sitting in my office with me and we were just talking, I held Abbey back after Sam and Riley left, and asked her what it had said. And she told me outright._

_It basically had told her that it thought you were innocent. I don't think that's even possible – I mean, you killed Peter and those Muggles _in – front – of – Aurors. _They _know _it was you. And everyone knows you were James and Lily's secret-keeper_

_But then again, I can't help but be hopeful that maybe – just _maybe – _the Sorting Hat is right. When has it been wrong before?_

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**

**Next chapter is probably going to be Riley's POV.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Just a random poll – who's POV do you prefer to read: Sirius, Remus, Abbey, Sam, Riley, or would you prefer third person? I, personally, couldn't choose which one to write, which is why it changes all of the time. Tell me your opinion in your review!**

**Thanks HPJellicleCat for the review!**

**This chapter is Riley's POV.**

Chapter 7

I couldn't believe Malfoy had done that, and then blamed _Hagrid! _It's times like these when I wonder why I just _had_ to have a crush on _Malfoy_, of – all – people. _He's _the one who freaking insulted Buckbeak, he shouldn't be blaming Hagrid _or _Buckbeak for it! You have _no _idea how pissed off he made me throughout the next few days.

I couldn't wait for Dad's first lesson, and when he finally entered the classroom (Ron and I had arrived early to find a completely empty classroom and had to wait for at least 15 minutes for him to show up) and told us we were having a practical lesson, we had never been so curious as to what it was – and leaving the classroom didn't help our curiosity.

To our surprise, we went directly to the staff room, where, just my luck, Professor Snape was alone.

"Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear." I had never wanted to kill Snape more than I did now. I was tempted to yell at him to quit being a big bully, but before I could so much as open my mouth, Dad said,

"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation, and I am sure he will preform it admirably."

Neville, of course, looked absolutely frightened now, and I smiled comfortingly at him – but it didn't seem to help his nerves very much. Dad led us over to the old wardrobe at the end of the room, which gave a sudden wobble as he neared it.

"Does anybody know what's in there?"

"It's a Boggart," I answered before even Hermione could – I had seen one in a grandfather clock at the Weasley's one time several years before, and I knew instantly that's what it was.

"Good, good," Dad said. "Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks – I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock." I saw his eyes flicker toward Ron and I, and we both stifled our laughter – that was a pretty funny day. "Now, does anybody know what a Boggart is?"

Of course, Hermione answered, and, much to my surprise, Dad had Harry answer the next question despite Hermione's hand in the air. I wondered what he was planning on – he wouldn't have called on Harry if his hand wasn't up unless he had a reason.

When Dad said that Neville was going to force Boggart-Snape into his grandmother's clothing, I couldn't contain my laughter. Beside me, Ron was doubled over, trying to keep his laughter quiet. I didn't even bother trying not to laugh until Dad shot me a warning glance and I knew that I better shut up.

"I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and think of how you might force it to look comical."

I thought, but I didn't know what I was frightened most of. I honestly wasn't frightened easily – Dad, Mr. Weasley, Sam and the twins all told me that was why I was in Gryffindor, and the twins ofent claimed that I had more qualities of a Slytherin than Gryffindor, for I could always come up with ways out of a sticky situation, but I cared more about other people than any Slytherin I knew.

Then I remembered Sirius Black, and I thought of everything that he had done, and I knew that I was most afraid of him. Is it sad or what that the thing I was most afraid of was my _dad_? Or maybe I was just afraid of what he could do – yeah, that sounded about right. I saw Dad glance at me out of the corner of his eyes, and I knew that he knew what I was thinking.

Soon, Neville was stepping up to the wardrobe and Dad opened it, and a menacing Snape stepped out and was soon thrust into Neville's grandmother's clothings. Everyone burst our laughing, and soon nearly everybody had faced the Boggart.

But Harry, Hermione, and I didn't get to. I thought I knew why.

When Harry asked why he, Hermione, and I were given points when we didn't even take on the Boggart, I knew Dad's answer before he said it – because we had answered his questions correctly at the beginning of the lesson.

Soon, everybody loved going to DADA, and only Malfoy and his friends didn't like Dad.

"Look at the state of his robes," he said one day at the end of September. "He dresses like our old house elf."

Unfortunately for him, Abbey was walking by at that moment, and she stomped up behind him, brought her fist back, and went to punch him in the back of his head before one of the two boys she had been walking with grabbed her fist.

"Let go, David!" she said, struggling to get her fist back. When David held on, she brought her knee up right into the back of Malfoy's knee, which gave out, and he stumbled forward.

Smiling to herself, Abbey walked away while Malfoy stared blankly after her – for some reason, he had yet to curse her, no matter how many times she had nearly punched him.

Quidditch started up soon, and news of the Hogsmeade weekend at the end of October popped up about the same time. Ron and Hermione _continuously _bickered over Scabbers and Crookshanks, but Crookshanks wasn't the only cat who was trying to eat Scabbers. Phoenix – Abbey's cat – was around whenever Abbey wasn't, and had also tried numerous times to eat Scabbers.

"Phoenix is half-Kneezle. What about Crookshanks? Is he a Kneezle, Hermione?" I asked her one day when the two of us were doing homework in the library and the boys were Merlin knows where, realizing that the two never left Scabbers alone.

"Part," she said distractedly. "Why?"

"Well neither of them will leave Scabbers alone, and they are both part Kneezle. You don't think something is up with Scabbers, do you? Like – like – I don't know, but something? Maybe he _does _have some magic in him, afterall, or something." Hermione shrugged and dismissed it, but I still wondered if Scabbers wasn't exactly what we thought he was.

The first Hogsmeade visit was rather dull – Dad had brought Sam, Abbey, and I there several times when we were younger so we could see Hogwarts. I hung around Ron and Hermione while they ogled the Shrieking Shack – which I knew the _real _story behind – and often had to stifle my laugher whenever they said something completely and utterly wrong about it.

The _real _excitement happened that night after everybody had gotten back from Hogsmeade. The corridor that led to the Gryffindor common room was jam packed with students, and we heard Percy call for Dumbledore. We couldn't see what was going on, but even the twins and Sam were being quiet, and I saw Abbey pushing her way to the back of the crowd, looking distraught. I knew something was wrong.

"Abbey," I said, grabbing her arm and stopping her. The two boys who I saw with her everywhere stopped behind her. "What's going on?" She swallowed, her eyes wide.

"The Fat Lady," she said quietly. "She's gone."

"Her canvas was slashed," one of the boys said. "It looks like a knife did it. Pieces were even falling off." Then, a small part in the crowd allowed me to see the portrait, and Hermione, Harry, Ron and I all gasped.

"You'll be lucky!" We all turned to see Peeves bobbing along straight above Abbey and I, looking at Dumbledore, who had just made it to the scene. He claimed to have seen The Fat Lady, and when Dumbledore asked if she had said who had slashed her canvas, he smiled maliciously. Somehow, I knew what was coming, and I think Abbey did too, for she grabbed my arm.

"Oh yes, Professorhead," Peeves replied. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."

I gasped, my eyes wide, and Abbey gripped my arm tightly. Sam, who was several feet in front of us but could see over the people between us, glanced at us worriedly. I could see him biting the inside of his cheek, and I saw that Abbey was biting her bottom lip, her eyes wide.

Soon, we were being led to the Great Hall, where all of the students – including Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin students – slept that night.

Abbey and her friends slept near us, and when Harry, Ron, Hermione and I overheard Snape telling Dumbledore that he thought that Dad had helped Black in, I heard her say quietly – but loud enough for Snape and Dumbledore to hear – "He would never do that." Dumbledore and Snape ignored her, but I could have sworn Dumbledore's next words ("I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it.") were directed at her and not Snape.

Time went by. Not a lot happened – though I did catch Dad keeping a very close eye on Sam, Abbey, and I several times. He seemed to be expecting us to crack and to tell our friends who our their dad was, or for us to just suddenly drop dead.

When the full moon came around, my usual crabbiness came into effect. Whenever Ron and Hermione would bicker, I would yell at them to stop or storm out of the room. I heard Ron attribute it to PMS to Harry one time, but I also noticed Hermione acting really suspicious, especially when Abbey punched Malfoy in the nose for talking bad about Hagrid the same day, Sam got a weeks detention for trying to hex Snape for implying something about DAd, and especially when Snape – of all people – was filling in for Dad the day after the full moon. And, of course, he was making us study _werewolves_. I knew instantly what he was playing at, and planned to take no part in it.

"Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" Hermione's hand shot up, and, though I did know the answer, I kept mine down. "Anyone?" Snape asked, his eyes narrowed maliciously at me. "Miss Lupin, I'm sure you know." I sighed.

"I don't know, sir," I lied, answering in a bored tone – hadn't I said I planned on playing no part in Snape's little plan here.

"Really?" Snape asked coldly. "Are you sure you don't?" I shrugged, refusing to look him in the eye or to look anywhere _near _him – he was bringing this on himself.

"How am I supposed to know?" I asked rudely. "I've never seen a werewolf, and it's not like _I'm_ one." Snape's lip curled, and he drawled,

"Five points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Miss Lupin." I sighed grumpily, but knew better than to say anything, even this time of the month.

"What do you suppose is wrong with Lupin?" Harry asked as we made our way back to the Common Room. I shrugged.

"Nothing life threatening," I answered distracted. "He'll be back next week – hell, he'll be back tomorrow probably."

"How do you know? You haven't seen him since last week," Hermione pointed out suspiciously. I shrugged.

"He gets sick easily."

"You got that right," Ron muttered.

The next day, the weather was terrible. It was the first Quidditch match of the year, and as I made my way down to the game with Ron and Hermione, our umbrella wouldn't have helped even if it _hadn't_ blown away because the wind was blowing the rain around in all sorts of directions.

The three of us sat directly behind Abbey and a row of her friends. The game was impossible to see – every now and then, we could make out a shape of a player when they got near to us, but we could never tell who they were or what position or house they played for. But it was a good thing we had sat behind Abbey, for she had great vision and was commentating the match for us better than Lee – he probably couldn't see it, either.

"Sam's got the Quaffle – shoot Diggory has seen the snitch! He's going to – !" She cut off, and I thought I knew why.

The familiar wave of cold had crept up and over the stands, and I saw Abbey's eyes go wide and her fingers start to grip her thighs so hard that the boys on either of her sides had to pull her hands off of her legs.

Then, suddenly, her eyes widened more than I thought possible. She stood up quickly – she almost knocked the boys beside her over. Her mouth dropped, and her hand flew to her mouth as a small shriek escaped.

"No – NO!" she yelled. I stood up as well, but I couldn't make out anything through the rain, and couldn't figure out what she was talking about.

"What – What happened?" I asked.

"Harry!" she answered quietly, turning around to face us. "Harry fell off of his broom! Luckily Dumbledore slowed him down! He had to be fifty feet up! It was the Dementors! They showed up, but Dumbledore just sent them away with some silver stuff. I've never seen Dumbledore so angry."

Ron, Hermione and I ran out of the stands as soon as we heard that. We saw somebody levitating Harry up to the castle, and we followed. I heard Abbey following behind me – she was Harry's friend too, though not as close as us – and soon we were in the hospital wing beside Harry's bed, soaping wet and pale.

I couldn't hear anything, but stared blankly at Harry's wet and pale face until, suddenly, his eyes snapped open.

"Harry!" Abbey exclaimed. "How're you feeling?"

"What happened?" Harry asked, sitting up sharply and looking around.

"You fell off," Fred said. "Must've been – what – fifty feet?"

Of course, what Harry _really _meant was what had happened at the game. I rolled my eyes – I should have known that that was _all _boys cared about.

I dreaded telling Harry what had happened to his broom. He didn't ask what had happened to it until after the Quidditch team left, leaving Harry, Hermione, Ron, Abbey (who had fallen asleep leaning on Harry's bed from her chair) and I alone.

""Did someone get my Nimbus?" Harry finally asked. I averted my eyes from Ron and Hermione, but they exchanged a quick glance.

"Er – "

"What?" Harry asked, looking from one of us to the other.

"Well, when you fell off, it got blown away," Hermione said slowly and quietly, looking at the bag by her feet.

"And?"

"And it hit – it hit – oh, Harry – "

" – it hit the Whomping Willow," I finished for her, for I knew she wouldn't be able to. Harry's eyes widened.

"And?"

"Well, you know the Whomping Willow," Ron said. "It doesn't like being hit."

"I'll say," I muttered under my breath to myself.

"Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came around," Hermione said quietly.

She reached down and grabbed the bag by her feet. She would have dumped it on the bed had Abbey not been there, but instead merely passed the bag to Harry, who paled considerably when he saw it.

"I'm sorry Harry," I said quietly. "There was nothing anybody could have done. It was too windy, we were too worried about you, only Abbey could see anything – hell, we wouldn't have known that you had fallen if it weren't for Abbey having her good vision and for her sitting right in front of us."

Harry didn't say anything, but stared blankly at the shattered remains of his Nimbus.

Madam Pomfrey suddenly came bustling in and told us to go back to our Common Room. We woke Abbey up, bid Harry good night, and walked slowly back toward the Fat Lady.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**

**I'm pretty sure that the next chapter will be Abbey's POV. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks HPJellicleCat, Hannahzzz, and sweetteetwo for the reviews!**

**This chapter is Abbey's POV.**

Chapter 8

"Psst – Abbey!"

It was the very last weekend of term. So far – despite my moodiness around full moons, Malfoy constantly making fun of Dad, the mentions of Sirius Black that I forced myself to endure and trying to keep the fact that he was my father a secret – Hogwarts had been a blast to me. Most classes came easy to me – except for Potions and History of Magic – and I had made two great friends, David Andrews and Sean Platte. Sure, it took me a while to get used to them, but soon we were as close as Harry, Ron, Riley, and Hermione. We had also gotten close to Troy Finley, and Emily had finally gotten over her fear of the school and those of us who shared a room with her.

I turned around and saw Harry hiding behind a statue of a one-eyed, humpbacked witch watching me. I wondered how long he had been there.

"Hey Harry." I waved slightly at him. I almost asked why he wasn't going to Hogsmeade, but then I remembered that he hadn't had his permission slip signed. "What are you doing behind that statue?"

"Want to go to Hogsmeade?" he asked, ignoring my question. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused.

"I'm only a first year, Harry, I can't. And neither can you."

"Yes we can." I started to shake my head, but he continued. "Fred and George told me about a secret passageway to Hogsmeade. We don't even have to pass the Dementors!"

That's when I realized why he was hiding behind the statue – it was over the secret passageway.

I shook my head, taking a few steps backwards.

"Harry, I'll get caught, knowing my luck. Plus, I've been to Hogsmeade before. It's no big deal to me. But you go – _you _probably won't get caught." I waved slightly before I turned around and quickly walked away, ignoring Harry's calls after me.

I wasn't watching where I was going too well, and when I rounded the corner, I ran straight into somebody and stumbled backward, only for that person to catch my wrist and steady me. I looked up to see who it was, only to find –

"Malfoy!" I exclaimed, shocked – had he really just kept me from falling? His eyes bore into mine, and I narrowed my eyes – something was obviously wrong. "What do you want?" He shook his head slowly, and when he didn't say anything, I started to walk around him, keeping my eyes on him just in case. Then, when I was about halfway down the corridor, he spoke.

"Lupin!" he said sharply. I turned around slowly to face him. I waited for him to say something more, and when he didn't, I rose my eyebrows.

"What?" Annoyed, and bored, I crossed my arms. Malfoy closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, he said,

"How are you related to those imbeciles you call your father, brother and sister?" I furrowed my eyebrows again, confused.

"What?" I asked.

"You're nothing like them!" he exclaimed. "You're so..._different_."

"What?" I asked again, probably sounding like an idiot – was this really Malfoy? It sure didn't seem like it. I wondered if somebody had put a Confundus charm on him.

He shook his head slowly, walking toward me.

"There's something about you that – that _intrigues _me." By the time he finished, he was only a few feet away from me. I wanted to move, but I found myself rooted to the spot as he finally stopped walking right in front of me.

"W – What are you talking about?" His eyes bore into mine, and I found myself so confused and shocked I was unable to look away.

"It's too bad you aren't a third year," he said suddenly. I opened my mouth to ask why, but he interrupted. "Then I could ask you to Hogsmeade." My eyes widened – so _that's _why Malfoy had actually been acting _civil _around me – he had a _crush _on me! It was so hilarious, I almost burst out laughing, but I knew that that would be extremely rude – even if I hated Malfoy, I still hated being rude. Instead, I smiled slyly.

"It _would_ be too bad – if you would quit making fun of my family."

"I'll stop," he said, smiling mischievously. "If you – "

But what I had to do, I wouldn't find out, for David and Sean suddenly came around the corner.

"Abbey!" David exclaimed when he saw me. Then, he and Sean saw Malfoy standing so close to me, and they both pulled out their wands, pushing me behind them – they, just like Sam and Riley and _every_body else, thought that I was delicate and needed protected and that I couldn't fight my own fights – which I could.

"Guys," I said, grabbing their arms and pulling them backward. "Come on." I turned quickly on my heels, hoping that David and Sean were following me, and left Malfoy, I'm sure, standing bewildered behind us.

When we got a few corridors away, I turned to David and Sean.

"What was that about?" Sean asked, seemingly confused. I shook my head.

"I have _no_ idea. He was actually being _civil_." I paused. "I'm going to go to the library – " They groaned, and I knew that my plan get to the library alone would work. "See you guys later."

I turned on my heels and headed toward the library. I wanted to see if they had any books with the old wizard families' family trees, for I was interested in who I was related to on the Black side. I figured that with the amount of books they had, they were bound to have one with it in it.

I asked Madam Pince, and she led me to an aisle near the back of the library, pointed to a huge book on the middle shelf, and told me they were in alphabetical order. It was so covered in dust that I could hardly read the name on the side, and I knew that it probably hadn't been checked out for a decade or more.

I pulled it out and took it to a nearby empty table – the one in the back that you sat at if you didn't want to be caught talking in the library – and flipped through it until I found the word _Black _printed in large letters along the top of the page.

Luckily, books like these had a charm on them that had them magically update themselves, so when I flipped to the back of the section labeled _Black, _I saw that I was the last name on the family tree. I also discovered that I had an uncle, Regulus, but that he was dead. I figured he was killed in the war, for he died in 1979 at the age of eighteen.

I worked my way backward – I found names that were familiar to me, many I hated being related to – Flint, Bulstrode, Burke, Yaxley, McMillan, Crabbe, Potter, Longbottom, Weasley, Crouch, Prewett, Rosier, Lestrange, and even Malfoy.

So, though distantly, I was somehow related to Ernie McMillan, Crabbe, Neville, Milicent Bulstrode, Marcus Flint, Harry, all the Weasley's, and even Malfoy. The closest was Malfoy – he was my third cousin. I slammed the book shut, annoyed that it had listed me as related to Malfoy, and then shoved it back into its spot on the shelf and left the library quickly, intending to get to dinner before the crowds coming in from Hogsmeade did.

I found David and Sean deep in argument about whether or not the Chudley Cannons were going to finish the bottom this year again.

"I'm telling you, they'll win one of these days!" David claimed. Sean shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Hey Abbey," Sean said distractedly before turning back to David. "How many times have the won a game in the past twenty years? Huh?"

"I know, I know, but – !"

I rolled my eyes and put some food on my plate. David and Sean were so into their conversation that I finished eating before them, and left the Great Hall without them even noticing.

Out in the Entrance Hall, I saw Riley come quickly into the building and rush toward the first-floor corridor. Wondering why she wasn't going to dinner, I called out,

"Riley!" She spun toward me, and then started in my direction. "Why aren't you getting something to – hey!" She grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the door. "What's going on?" I asked, confused. She didn't answer me until we were outside underneath a tree between Hagrid's hut and the Whomping Willow. It was snowing, and I wondered why we _had _to be outside, but I didn't ask. "What's going on?" I repeated.

"Dad hasn't been entirely truthful to us."

"What?"

She sighed, running her fingers through her hair, brushing the snow that looked like dandruff out of her hair.

"Fred and George gave Harry the map and –

"They did?" I interrupted. "No fair! _I _wanted the map!"

" – and so Harry snuck into Hogsmeade today – "

"I know," I said. "So?" She seemed surprised that I knew, but kept talking anyway.

"Well, we went to the Three Broomsticks and Hagrid, Flitwick, McGonagall, and the minister came in while we were in there – "

"Oh no, Harry got caught didn't he?" I asked. She sighed impatiently.

"No! Now would you stop interrupting me?" I stared at her silently. "Thank you!" she exclaimed. "Anyway, we managed to hide, but we overheard them talking about Sirius Black." Intrigued, I leaned closer. "His best friends, besides Dad, were _James Potter _and _Peter Pettigrew_."

"You mean the wizard that he killed and Harry's dad?"

"_Didn't I say to quit interrupting me?_" I shut my mouth again, and she continued. "And yes, those are the ones." My eyes widened. "I know. But that's not all. Black is Harry's _Godfather _– !"

"So? He's our _father_," I pointed out. She ignored my interruption.

"That's not it. Before Voldemort came after Harry and his parents, they went into hiding using the Fidelius Charm – "

"Is that the one with the Secret-Keeper?" She nodded impatiently.

"Yes, it is. Well, they used it, and Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper. He handed them over to Voldemort! His best friends! And then, when Hagrid picked up Harry from the ruins of his house when he was a baby – you knew Hagrid did that, didn't you? – anyway, Black was there. And you know what he said? 'Give him to me, Hagrid, I'm his Godfather, Remus and I will look after him.'"

I shrugged, not seeing why it was such a big deal to her, and leaned against the tree trunk, looking around me. I saw Phoenix and Crookshanks near the Whomping Willow in the distance and watched them for a moment.

"What's the big deal about that?" I asked.

"He would've killed Harry had Hagrid not refused to give him to him!" she exclaimed, exasperated, running her fingers through her hair again. I knew she was stressing and overreacting. "Our father would be the reason Harry was dead! And now that we overheard that, Hermione, Ron, and Harry don't trust Dad because Hagrid just _had _to say that Black had said that he _and Dad _would take care of Harry!"

As I listened, I saw a big black dog emerge from what looked like beneath the Whomping Willow and watched as it joined Phoenix and Crookshanks. Somehow, as though they all could hear us, they all turned their heads and stared in our direction. I thought the dog looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out why. After a moment, I turned my head back to Riley.

"Why are you so worked up about it? Just tell them that Dad and Black were friends and that, when Black showed his true colors, Dad realized he had made a mistake when he became friends with him and James and – "

"You don't understand!" Riley said, agitated with me. I was pretty sure I understood perfectly. "You _never _understand! I _knew _I should have waited for Sam and told him!"

"I understand just fine, thank you," I retorted coldly. "And I think you're overreacting."

"Would you want _your _friends to find out?" I opened my mouth to reply, but then I realized that no, I wouldn't want my friends to find out. I closed my mouth slowly, looking back toward the Whomping Willow. I got the impression that the dog and cats were now closer to us than they had been before. "Do you get it now?"

"I got it from the beginning," I said quietly, watching the dog lay down in a patch of snow. "I just didn't put myself in your shoes and think about how I would react if I was you. And now that I've done that, I understand better than I did before." Riley still eyed me suspiciously, but continued anyway.

"Well, anyway, I was on my way to confront Dad about it when you caught up with me. I'm going to go finish that now." Okay, so I was upset, but not upset enough to confront Dad about it. I smiled slightly at Riley.

"You have fun with that!" I said sarcastically. I turned to walk back to the castle for two reasons – one: to get out of the biting cold and two: to get away from Riley. But before I could make it even two steps, she grabbed my wrist and spun me around to face her. I sighed. "What?"

"Aren't you coming?" I shook my head, pulling my wrist out of her grasp.

"No," I said calmly. "I don't think that it's _Dad's _fault, so I don't see how confronting him would make a difference. He obviously didn't tell us because he was afraid that we would react the way you are right now. So no, I _don't _think confronting him is such a good idea." Riley sighed, and I turned around once more. This time, Riley didn't stop me, so I walked right up the hill.

When I was within twenty feet of the cats and dog, the dog got up and trotted toward me. Phoenix and Crookshanks followed a few feet behind it uncertainly.

"Hey puppy," I said meekly when it was in reaching distance of me. There was no way it was still a puppy, but I had always called all dogs puppies. I patted its head lightly and started back toward the castle, pulling my cloak tighter around me, trying in vain to keep out the biting cold.

As I entered the castle, I glanced back and saw Riley leaning against the tree and the dog right behind me – it had followed me. I checked its neck for a collar, but it had none.

"Who do you belong to?" I muttered. "Or are you a stray?" From the looks of him, he was a stray, but I wasn't sure how, then, he had gotten onto the grounds. Maybe he lived in the forest. Either way, I was sure he wasn't supposed to be in the castle. I tried to shoo him away, but he wouldn't go, so I just allowed him in, sighing in the process.

"You'll be the death of me, dog," I muttered as it followed me up the stairs.

When I reached the Fat Lady, I gave her the password and then turned back to the dog so I could shoo it away – it couldn't come into the Common Room. But, to my surprise, it was trotting away back down the stairs. A few startled students watched it go. I shook myself and followed Crookshanks and Phoenix into the Common Room.

I took a seat by the fire and started to do the homework that I was going to do before Riley had taken me outside. I noticed the Common Room slowly but surely get quieter, and soon I was alone on the Common Room still working on a Potions essay.

I laid my pencil down and then put my feet on the table in front of me to take a rest. I hoped I wouldn't fall asleep, but figured that I would...

I awoke later to hear the Portrait hole close loudly. I didn't dare to move or even open my eyes, and listened instead. I heard heavy and slow footsteps coming in my direction. They got closer, and closer, and soon they were right in front of me, where they stopped.

My heart rate sped up, and after a long, silent moment, I opened my eyes slowly.

Standing over me, staring down at me with a butcher knife hanging by his side in his left hand and a wand hanging limply by his right side was none other than Sirius Black.

We both stood, staring at one another with wide, gray eyes, for a long moment. Finally, I broke the silence.

I attempted to scream, but my throat was constricted, so I just pulled my feet off of the table in front of me. Somehow, I ended up knocking the chair I was in backward. It landed with a loud _BANG. _I hit my head hard on something that felt sharp, which caused me to attempt to scream again – attempt and failed again – and somersaulted backward, somehow landing on my knees. I jumped up onto my feet to see Black between the chair and I – somehow, he had managed to silently walk around the chair.

I walked slowly backwards, feeling around for my wand in my pockets. But it wasn't there, and I realized I left it on the table. When I looked, it wasn't where I had left it, and then I looked slowly and shakily toward Black, and I saw that it was _my _wand that he held in his right hand.

I tripped over a couch and fell backward onto it. There was a _swish _of cloaks, and Black was suddenly behind me. I spun around so I was facing him and opened my mouth to ask him what he wanted, but found my throat constricted again.

"Don't try to talk," he said in a hoarse voice, as though he hadn't used it for years – which he probably hadn't. "Or call for help. I've put a Silencing Charm on you so you can't." I wanted to ask him why, but I obviously couldn't speak.

Black bent down beside me and I pulled my feet up away from him, realizing for the first time that the back of my head still hurt terribly. "Lemme see your head."

Confused, I reached my hand and touched the back of my head. I felt something sticky, and when I brought my hand back, I saw a dark red liquid on it. How had I cut my head just from falling backward onto _carpet?_ I didn't get it, but I wasn't about to let Black see it. I shook my head slowly, putting my hand back over it so maybe I could slow the bleeding down.

Black sighed impatiently. "I'll remove the Silencing Charm, but I'm going to make it so the people in the dormitories can't hear you." Then he waved my wand, muttered several things, and I found myself able to talk again. " I'm not about to hurt you, let me see your head, I'll help you," he said. I made a noise of disbelief.

"Yeah, right, I'm _sure _you don't," I said, my voice heavy with sarcasm. He sighed again and then stood back up.

"Fine. I won't help you." He paused. "You're Remus Lupin's girl, right?" When he said Remus Lupin, something flickered in his eyes – was that _hatred_? I lifted my head and asked,

"What's it to ya?"

"Abigail Lupin, right?" he asked, ignoring my snotty comment. Confused, I narrowed my eyebrows and crossed my arms.

"Maybe."

"So, _Abbey_, I have a proposition for you." He paused for a long moment and then sat down beside me. I inched away from him, but he either didn't notice or pretended not to.. "I will heal the back of your head and give your wand back to you if go up those stairs – " he pointed to the stairs to the boys' dormitories " – and go to the third years' dormitory – " I interrupted him.

"If you think I'm going to bring Harry to you, you've got another thing coming – " I was cut off by him laughing a cold, humorless laugh.

"_I don't want Harry!_" he laughed. "I need you to go to the Weasley boy's – Rolf – ?"

"Ron? What do you want with Ron?" He shook his head.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

He hesitated, then opened his mouth slightly, but before he could say anything, there was a _BANG!_and Black was thrown sideways off of the couch. My wand flew in an arc toward me and I caught it effortlessly and turned to see Harry standing at the bottom of the staircase to the boys' dormitories.

"Abbey! Are you alright?" he asked, rushing toward me, keeping his wand outstretched toward where Black lay. "What did he do to you?" he asked worriedly, noticing the blood running down my back.

"It wasn't him – "

I went to explain more, but then we heard the Portrait Hole slam, and we turned to where Black had laid, but where there was now nothing but carpet.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**

**I'm not sure whose POV it will be next chapter – probably Riley's or third person, but it might not end up being either. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: If you read the last chapter before the first, I made some small changes to the end of it. I realized that if Abbey knew he was after Scabbers, Remus would figure out that they switched earlier, and that is a drastic change to my storyline. So, there were a few _slight _changes to the dialogue in chapter 8.**

**Thanks sweetteetwo, HPJellicleCat, and Duskfire1954 for the reviews!**

**This chapter is in Abbey's POV.**

Chapter 9

"Are you _sure _that's what he said?"

"Yes, I'm _one-hundred percent_ sure that he said he wanted _Ron_, not Harry," I said, my voice filled with irritation. "I was sure the first twenty times you asked, actually."

As soon as Black had gone, Harry and I had ran to find a teacher – and, of course, we had run into _Snape, _of all teachers…

"_There's got to be a teacher around here _somewhere_," Harry said, sticking his head into the third floor corridor to look for a teacher._

"_How come whenever you don't want to be caught, you find a teacher, and whenever you don't want to get caught, you can't find a teacher?" I asked as I caught up with him. I grabbed his sleeve before he could go down another flight of stairs. "Let's search this corridor." I led him into the third floor corridor._

_We walked in silence for a moment, checking each room and corridor as we passed._

"_Well, well, well, what have we here?"_

_We spun around to see Snape standing behind us, smiling evilly at us._

"_Professor, listen – !" I started to say, but Snape interrupted me._

"_You might as well go back your bags now, Miss Lupin, Mr Potter – "_

"_Professor! Sirius Black was in our Common Room!" Snape sneered at me._

"_Try as you might to come up with an excuse, Miss Lupin, I won't fall for you – "_

"_You want proof?" Harry asked angrily. "Here!" He grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around. Snape fell silent at once – blood was still pouring from the wound on the back of my head._

_It didn't hurt – I guess it was probably just numb._

Now, Riley, Sam, and Dad were in the Hospital Wing with me. Madam Pomfrey had recently healed the back of my head. Harry had been sent back to the Common Room after he had told Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Remus everything he had seen. The castle had been searched, and the students had all been locked safely in their Common Room until morning, when most of them left. The news that Sirius Black had been in the castle hadn't spread yet.

"And you're _certain _it was Black?"

"Yes, I'm certain. Harry even said it was, and Sir Cadagon even said that he let Black in because he had the password."

"But how did he know the password?" Riley asked. Her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion and thought. I shrugged.

"How am I supposed to know? All I know was that he _wasn't _trying to kill me – or hurt me in any way – he _wasn't _trying to get me to get Harry, but he did want something to do with _Ron_."

Dad sighed – he was probably wondering what was going on with his husband – or, as he probably preferred to call him now, his _ex _husband? Was he really trying to kill his kids and Harry? Or did he have some other ultimate motive behind his actions? I, personally, thought he had some other motive behind his actions. I didn't know what, but something besides killing us.

Besides the fact that Harry was sent a Firebolt and Hermione told McGonagall, who took it for inspection, Christmas holidays passed without much affair. Soon, the rest of the school returned, and the fact that Sirius Black had entered the castle spread within the first day. But, much to everybody's surprise, I wasn't shaken at all from my visit by Sirius Black – at least, I _pretended _not to be.

"He didn't try to hurt me!" I would say whenever somebody would ask me why I wasn't frightened by him. "Why would he scare me if he didn't seem to want to hurt anybody?"

The day that classes resumed, I was running late to Charms after being cornered by some second year Hufflepuffs who wanted to hear my story first hand, when I turned down a corridor and saw two people that I would recognize anywhere alone, facing each other, in the corridor. I quickly darted backward so I was hidden by the wall – I'd rather not be in the middle of a fight between Riley and Malfoy when I was running late.

I went to take the long way to class, as being in the middle of a fight would make me even later than taking the long way would. But I stopped when I heard what Malfoy said next.

"My father told me about your father," Malfoy said quietly to Riley. I stopped in my tracks and narrowed my eyes – which father, and what does he know?.

"What about Dad? He has nothing to hide," Riley said. Unlike Sam and I, she hadn't inherited Dad's good ability to act and lie, so it was obvious that she was lying.

"Not Professor Lupin. Your _other _Dad. Or do you not know?" he added the last part as though he had planned on it, his voice filled with malice. I cursed him silently.

"W-What are you talking about?" she stuttered, but it was clear that she knew perfectly well what he was talking about.

"I think you know." He paused. "You know, about Sirius Black?" I could just imagine Riley's eyes widening in shock. "I'd tell the whole school if it would only ruin you, your brother and father's reputation. Unfortunately, if I tell the whole school, it would also ruin Abbey."

"Why do you care if you ruin Abbey?" Riley asked, confused. I thought that I knew what was going on – I just hoped dearly that I was wrong.

"Well it's obvious – I almost asked her out the other day, but her _dimwit_ friends Andrews and Platte interrupted me before I could." I could hear Riley gasp even though she was all the way down the corridor – Riley was probably going to hate me now, as she had been swooning after Malfoy since the first time she saw him in Diagon Alley when she was eight.

"You – You _what_?"

Malfoy laughed darkly but didn't answer her. Instead, I could hear his footsteps coming down the corridor toward me. I quickly bolted toward Charms, hoping that Flitwick wouldn't be _too _angry with me.

By breakfast the next day, somehow the whole school had found out about "Draco Malfoy's crush on Abigail Lupin." At first, Malfoy tried to deny it, but after a large amount of people cornered him about it, he finally fessed up to it with his head held high proudly. "Yes, and do you got a problem with that?" he would say if somebody asked him. (They would, more often than not, reply "no" very quickly, and then would run off before Malfoy could send Crabbe and Goyle at them.) Whenever I would pass Malfoy, I would purposefully look away from him.

"He's staring at you," Troy Finley muttered to me one day while we were walking to Transfiguration.

"Well I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of looking at him," I said back, and I merely picked up the pace. Troy trotted along behind me.

"Lupin!"

I kept walking as if I hadn't heard him. Troy followed me, obviously highly confused but just going along with me.

"Hey, Lupin!"

I huffed and, knowing that he wouldn't leave me alone unless I acknowledged him, spun on my heels.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" I spat. Troy stood behind me awkwardly. Malfoy walked with a cocky swagger up to me, Crabbe and Goyle following him just as cockily.

"What do you say to accompanying me to Hogsmeade?" I blinked, unphased by Crabbe and Goyle flexing their muscles behind Malfoy, as if daring me to say "no, I would rather not go with you".

"In case you don't remember, Malfoy," I said calmly, rolling my eyes. "I am only a _first year_, I cannot go to Hogsmeade yet."

"Well then just go out with me."

"I wouldn't date you if you were the last man _alive_," I said, still calm. "I would choose a ghost to you, and that is saying something, as I am quite chilled by ghosts." Crabbe started forward warningly, but Malfoy stopped him by placing a hand on his chest and pushing him backward.

"She'll _never _go out with me if I let one of you hurt her. Or her siblings or Professor Lupin," he said. I rose my eyebrows and smiled mischievously at him.

"Hey, you know something in that teeny-weeny brain of yours!" Malfoy scowled, but said nothing. "And I wouldn't even _consider_ dating you since you're such a bullying _jerk. _See you later!" I added merrily before turning, grabbing Troy's arm between his shoulder and elbow, and pulling him down the corridor with me, as he was staring between Malfoy and I, dumbstruck.

About a month into the new term, I was helping Troy with his potions homework while Sean and David played Exploding Snap when a yell came down from the boys' dormitories. I recognized the voice – I had lived with the owner of it for my whole life. The whole common room fell silent, and then Ron came down the stairs dragging his sheets.

Much to my surprise, he proceeded to blame Hermione for letting Crookshanks eat Scabbers because he had found blood on his sheets and ginger cat hairs on the floor. And even though his evidence was enough to make _anybody_ believe that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, I had a feeling that it wasn't Crookshanks, or even Phoenix.

It was late the next day. David, Sean, and I had been down to see Hagrid, but David and Sean had already left because they hadn't finished some Potions homework that was due the next day, and didn't care to feel Snape's wrath. I had stayed a little longer, until it was almost curfew and Hagrid sent me back to the castle alone.

I was walking past the Whomping Willow when I noticed Crookshanks and Phoenix creeping their way toward me. I stopped in my tracks.

"Where are they going?" I asked myself as they got nearer and nearer. They seemed to not see me – or perhaps just ignored me, and walked straight past me and to the Whomping Willow. When they were by the trunk of the tree, they turned around and stared at me, giving me an "are-you-coming-or-are-you-just-going-to-stand-there-like-an-idiot?" look. After a moment of contemplation, I glanced around, making sure that nobody was around and watching me, and when I saw no one, I jogged to catch up with them.

To my surprise, the Whomping Willow was still as I approached the two cats. They slipped into a hole under some roots that I had never seen before, and I hesitated. I had a strange feeling about following them – a feeling that I couldn't quite put her finger on – but I followed them anyway. I slipped my feet in behind them and slid into a tunnel.

I followed the two cats on and on. When I felt like I had been in the tunnel for at least a year, I considered turning around. But, finally, I found a hole that I climbed through and found myself in a dusty, ruined room.

"What did you guys lead me to?"

As I followed Phoenix up the rickety staircase, I thought I knew where we were.

"Why did I ever agree to follow you? You're _cats_, and now I'm stuck in the bloody _Shrieking Shack!_ Man, if Fred and George ever got wind of the fact that _I _got into this tunnel before them, they'd go ballistic."

At the top of the stairs, the cats turned sharply around the corner of a slightly open door. I took a deep breathe, contemplated turning around one final time before I pushed the door open slowly. It creaked, but I kept pushing it until it was wide enough for me to enter. I stuck my hand into the pocket of my robes, gripping my wand tightly just in case, as I eased my way into the room.

Upon first glance, it was empty apart from a huge four poster bed with dusty hangings. But when I eased my way into the room further, I saw a mass of black fur, and I saw the large, black, bear-like dog I had seen on the grounds and in Diagon Alley before. It was staring at me with big, gleaming eyes, an expression that said "what-the-hell-are-you-doing-here?" Why did these animals keep giving me these weird expressions?

Then, suddenly, one second it was a dog, the next it was Sirius Black. I let out a small shriek of surprise, taking a quick step backwards and tripping over Merlin knows what. I stumbled backward, but was unable to regain my balance, so I fell onto my butt hard.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Black croaked, his face showing the same expression that the dogs had been. He jumped up off of the bed onto his feet.

Wait, rewind – _Black's_ face looked like that _dogs_?

"What the heck?" I asked. "There was just a dog right there – !" Black let out a bark of laughter. A _bark _of laughter. It dawned on me. "You're an Animagus?" He stopped laughing immediately.

"You're a first year – how do you know what Animagi are?" I shrugged.

"But you are one, right?" He stared at me suspiciously, and repeated his previous question.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Ask them!" I pointed frantically toward Phoenix and Crookshanks. "They made me follow them here!"

"How could they have _made _you?" he asked, his smiling slightly.

"What're you smiling for?" I asked him, purposely changing the subject. He shrugged, still smiling. I narrowed my eyes at him and huffed. "Now, if you don't mind, since there is no reason for me to be here, I will be leaving." I went to stand up, but before I could even move, Black was standing over me.

"You won't tell anybody about – about this place?" I looked around.

"Well, I _was _going to tell Fred and George Weasley that I had found a secret passageway before them –"

"Not about that!" he said impatiently. "About me being here?" I shrugged.

"Why would I? I don't believe that you want to hurt anybody – even if you did kill those Muggles and hand Harry's parents over to Voldemort, you must have learned your lesson in Azkaban or – "

"I didn't kill those Muggles," he said hoarsely, looking away. "But I don't deny handing Lily and James over to Voldemort. I don't want to hurt anybody. And you're very brave to say the name." I shrugged.

"My father taught me not to fear a name." He looked down at me, and I saw something flicker in the depths of his eyes.

"Your father? You mean Remus Lupin, right? How is he?" he said in one breath.

"Dad? He – he's fine, I guess." He frowned.

"He's only_ fine_?" he demanded. I shrugged.

"What can I say? I'm just being honest – he's not doing _great_, but he has a job and seems to be okay, so it could be worse."

"Where does he work?"

"He teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts here – Hogwarts, that is. And why do you care where he works? You sure didn't mind sending the Potters to their death." He frowned.

"You don't know the full story," he said, walking back to the four poster bed and sitting on it. "I cared about Lily and James. I did. And I may as well have sent them to their death. I convinced them to change secret-keepers to the person that _did _betray them." By the way he said it, I couldn't help but believe him. He was practically pleading me to believe him, but I could detect hatred in his voice – most would say it was hatred for Lily and James Potter, but I knew – or thought, really – that it was hatred toward himself for convincing them to change and for whoever handed them to Voldemort.

"If you truly did convince them to change secret-keepers, then who did they switch to?" I asked quietly after a moment of silence. Black stared down at his feet and then looked over at me.

"Peter Pettigrew," he answered sourly.

"So that's why you cornered him and killed him," I said quietly, my eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Not because you wanted to kill of all of your friends. Dad told me that he was convinced, for a while, that you were going to come after him next." Black frowned, and something flickered deep in his eyes again.

"I would never, _ever _go after your father. I – I – "

"You loved him?" I supplied, looking down at my feet. There was a moment of silence, and then Black said, so quietly that I barely heard him,

"I still do." I looked up, and our eyes met. Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes. "How did you know that?"

"Dad told me," I said quietly. "He told Sam, Riley and I about – about you and him."

Immediately following my words, silence enveloped us. Not only was it silent, it was _awkward. _Neither of us knew what to say to the other. The silence lasted for a long time, until I suddenly heard footsteps. I didn't look up – I knew it was Black. Then, just as suddenly, the footsteps stopped. I looked up and saw Black standing above me like before, staring down at me with wide eyes. He knelt down beside me and our eyes met.

"Abbey – Abigail," he said quietly. "You – you know? And you don't hate me...?"

"I think Riley and Sam do," I answered his unasked question. He flinched. "But I don't." He furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm not capable of hate. I don't even hate Voldemort, or Malfoy, or Snape – "

"Malfoy? Snape?" he said sharply. "What have they got to do with anything?"

"Well, Snape hates me – "

"Of course he does," Black said. "He hated Remus and I. But how do you even know him?"

"Because he's the potions professor, of course." Black seemed to choke on the actual air that he was breathing.

"He – _he _is a _teacher_? I'm so sorry! But he works here with _Remus_? Oh, wow, he must _hate _working with Remus!" He seemed to have a laughing fit – I didn't understand what was so funny.

"I heard him trying to convince Dumbledore the other day that he was helping you into the grounds." He stopped laughing so quickly, it was hard to believe he had ever laughed that night.

"Remus – Remus would _never_ – !"

"That's what I said," I said. "And you asked what Malfoy has to do with anything? _You _are probably talking about his _father _– _I _am talking about Draco Malfoy, the worst Slytherin there _is_ – "

"Isn't he Riley and Harry's age?" Black asked. I nodded.

"Yep." He must have noticed the malice in my voice, and he said,

"Why do you hate Malfoy?"

"He makes fun of Dad." He rose his eyebrows – probably because, a) somebody was making fun of his husband and b) he must have known that wasn't the only reason. I sighed. "And he's convinced that he's _madly in love _with me when I hate him." Then, suddenly, Black started to laugh hysterically again. "What?" I asked, annoyed with his laughing.

"N-nothing," he laughed. "You – you just reminded me of one of my old friends." When he finally stopped laughing, we stared at each other in silence for a moment before Black leaned forward slowly, as though he thought I might curse him, and wrapped his arms around me.

I can't say it wasn't an odd experience – being hugged by your _prisoner _father for the first time in your whole 11 years of life – but it felt..._right_. I knew instantly that he was my father, even if I hadn't known before, and I somehow got this strange feeling that he _couldn't _have ever murdered anybody or handed his best friends to the most murderous man in the whole world.

After a moment, I said quietly,

"Now tell me this whole story so I know why you wanted me to get something from Ron."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**

**So I think most chapters, at least for a while, will be in Abbey's POV. One: I find her easiest and funnest to write, and two: many things will happen around her and not Sam or Riley.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: That was a lot faster of an update than I expected. This chapter hasn't been proof-read yet, but it's too late for me to proof-read it now, so I'm going to tomorrow after school. **

**Thanks HPJellicleCat for the review!**

**This is in Abbey's POV again.**

Chapter 10

I was flabbergasted. So shocked that my mouth was hanging open, and I didn't care. Scabbers was Peter...Scabbers was a_ real wizard..._Scabbers was a_ murderer._.._The rat whom I had lived with my whole life was the man who had framed my father!_

"Scabbers – he's _gone_," I muttered. Black – _Father_ – frowned. His eyes widened.

"What do you mean, _gone_?" he barked.

"He faked his own death – _again_," I added sourly. "There was blood on Ron's sheets – and some of Crookshanks' hair on the ground." Father's nostrils flared.

"Damn, how are we supposed to – !"

"Wait," I said, suddenly having an idea. "I bet I could get Harry to let me borrow the map – there's no way that, as a rat, he could have gotten out of the grounds – "

"What map?"

"Fred and George – the Weasley twins – they found a map in Filch's office in their first year that showed all of Hogwarts and all of the people on it, and they gave it to Harry not long ago – "

"You mean the Marauders' Map?" I nodded slowly – how did he know about the map? "Really?" I nodded again, and he started to laugh. "Remus, James, Peter and I made the map!" I felt my eyes widen involuntarily – my parents _made _the map? Why hadn't Dad ever told us?

"You – yo_u _made the map?"

"You betcha." He stopped laughing. "You say Harry has it?" I nodded.

"Yep, and I bet he'd let me borrow it for a bit, and I could find Peter." Father smiled mischievously.

"Now _that's _what I call the daughter of two marauders." He continued to smile as he talked. "As soon as you have him, bring him here. I don't care what time of day it is – early in the morning, past curfew, _I don't care! _As soon as he's here, I'm going to kill him, too – it's the least that he deserves – !"

"No!" I all but yelled. He cut off instantly. "You can't kill him! Then you have no proof that you didn't kill him in the first place! Just talk him up to the castle, we can take him to Dumbledore's office and then the Dementors can have him from there."

"You really think he doesn't deserve to die?"

"No – nobody deserves death. Or the Dementor's Kiss. But if anybody deserves to go to Azkaban, it's him."

Within the next few minutes, I was sneaking back up to the Gryffindor common room. It was way past curfew by now – the sun had completely set, and the half-moon was hanging low in the eastern sky. Father had made me promise not to tell anybody – even Dad, Riley, or Sam. Somehow, I managed to get back to the common room without being seen by Mrs. Norris, Filch, or any teacher or student. I made a mental note to talk to Dad tomorrow after DADA. I had a plan.

* * *

"Hey Dad." Dad looked up from his desk and smiled, his face lighting up like it always did when he saw Sam, Riley, and/or I.

"Hey hun. I haven't talked to you for a while." I pulled out a chair from the nearest desk and sat down, throwing my bag onto the ground.

"I know." I paused. "How come you never told me that you helped make the Marauders' Map? With the amount of times that I told you about Fred and George showing me it, you should have mentioned it _sometime._" Dad looked back up, his eyes wide with shock.

"How – how did you find that out?"

"Well," I said slowly. "I had a detention with Snape the other day." No lies there. "And he made me sort through old records of detentions. You, _Black – _" I tried to say it with as much contempt as I could " – James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew were in there a lot." No lies there either. "And once, in your sixth year I think, you guys got in trouble for writing something about the Marauders doing something-or-other on something." That was true as well. "So I just put two-and-two together. You were Moony, right?" Dad smiled at me.

"You really are a bright witch, Abbey." He sighed. "And yes, I was Moony."

"Is that why Sam, Riley, mine, and your last names only come up with _Lupin _and not _Black-Lupin_? You tampered with it, didn't you?" He nodded solemnly. "Where did the rest of the names come from?"

"I honestly don't know," he lied – I knew he was lying because Father had told me where they came from. "We just started calling each other by them." I hesitated before I asked my next question:

"They only ever found Pettigrew's finger, right?" Dad nodded slowly, seemingly confused. "What if – what if he's not – not dead?"

"He's dead," he said sharply. "Why would you ever say that he wasn't?"

"Because – I was studying the map last night." To make sure, if he checked all of this, that he would find no lies, I had asked Harry to borrow the map. He had let me. I had found Pettigrew in Hagrid's hut. He wasn't moving. I was planning on going to see if he was there when I had a free period later that day when Hagrid had class – he would never know I was there.

"I was studying the map last night and I saw his name on it near the Whomping Willow."

Dad's eyes narrowed.

"That's impossible." I shook my head.

"That's just what I saw." I hesitated again. "Do you think the Sorting Hat was right? That Black couldn't have done all those things? I've been thinking a lot about that lately, and has the Sorting Hat ever been wrong before? I don't think so. I mean, it's seen the inside of Black's mind, for Merlin's sake!" Dad was staring at me, looking stunned and slightly nervous.

"Look – I don't know if the Sorting Hat was right or not, but I have to get to grading these papers. But promise me that you will stay away from that tree." He added the last part very fiercely, in the voice he used when he was being very serious and strict, the voice that Sam, Riley, and I knew not to cross. But I had to this time.

"Why?" I asked, even though I knew why.

"Just – just stay away from it."

"Okay. I won't go near it."

"And don't disobey that, it's very important to me to keep you as far away from that tree as possible. By the way, who has the map?"

"Harry, why?"

"Because, if Black gets it, it's a map to Harry. I'm going to take it from him after I finish grading these papers."

After I closed the door, I heard Dad say to himself once he thought that I was out of earshot, "Shit. Sirius is innocent." I smiled to myself as I headed quickly down toward Hagrid's hut.

I was halfway there when I saw Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher standing in the corridor. I had never seen her before, but from the stories Ron, Hermione, Riley, and Harry told, I would know her anywhere. To my surprise, she seemed lost, standing staring at the wall.

"Professor?" I said timidly as I approached her. She turned to me, and I noticed that her mouth was sagging open, and her eyes were unfocused.

"IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT." I stared at her – what in the world was she talking about?

"W-What?" Her eyes started to roll into the back of her head, and I started to panic. But then she spoke again, in a harsh voice.

"THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS. HIS SERVANT HAS BEEN CHAINED THESE TWELVE YEARS. TONIGHT, BEFORE MIDNIGHT...THE SERVANT WILL BREAK FREE AND SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER. THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANT'S AID, GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN EVER HE WAS. TONIGHT...BEFORE MIDNIGHT...THE SERVANT...WILL SET OUT...TO REJOIN...HIS MASTER..."

Then, just as suddenly as it had happened, she was back to her – well, what I assumed was her – normal self. She stared at me as if I were something new and foreign to her – well, I _was _staring at her with my eyes wide and mouth open. Then, suddenly, she turned and strode away down the corridor, ignoring me completely.

Still shocked, I thought maybe it was somebody pulling a prank – yes, that had to be it – so I turned and headed to my original desitnation – Hagrid's hut.

He was having a class in his garden with his third years, but he was too busy helping Neville Longbottom to notice me slip into his house via the front door.

I closed it quietly behind me and glanced around. His house was tiny, yes, but there were so many places that a rat could hide. I figured that the best hiding place would be in one of the older, dusty cupboards. I pulled a few open, but found nothing. So I checked under the bed, and anywhere I could look.

I was taking one final look around the cupboard when I heard something I didn't want to here.

"Hagrid – do you mind if I talk to Harry for a moment – in private?"

I froze – Dad had come to talk to Harry _now_? I frantically searched the cabinet, and that's when I saw it – a rat hiding in the milk jug. I dumped him out of the milk jug and tossed him into my bag, which I zipped up quickly so he couldn't get away, muttering, "Nice try, Wormtail" as I did so.

"Sure – take 'im into me hut if ya wan'." I felt my eyes widen, and I ran out the front door, leaving the cabinet open. The door closed just as the back door opened. I hid under a window sill, waiting until I could slip away without Hagrid noticing, and heard some of Dad and Harry's conversation.

"Harry," Dad said. "Harry, Harry – do you have the map with you?" Way to be subtle, Dad.

"W-What?" Harry stuttered. "How do you know about the map?" I could imagine Dad waving his hand impatiently.

"It doesn't matter. But what _does _matter is that your parents gave their lives to save yours, Harry. If Sirius Black got a hold of this, it would be a map straight to you! A poor way to repay them – gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks. Now, if you have that map, I need it." I heard rumbling, and assumed that Harry had taken the map out of his pocket.

"I'm not quite sure it works properly, Professor," I heard him say quietly. "I saw a name on it yesterday of somebody I know to be dead."

"And who might that be?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

I didn't hear anymore than that, as I had taken that opportunity to dash toward the Whomping Willow – Hagrid had his back turned and most of the students had gone already, as class was over. But I thought that I heard Dad say, "That's impossible" as I slipped away.

Phoenix was waiting outside of the Whomping Willow for me. I guessed that somehow he had known I was going to come soon. He pressed the knob on the trunk, and the Willow froze. I took one final glance toward Hagrid's as I slipped into the gap in the roots. I saw his back door be thrown open, but I ducked into the hole.

I was later told what had happened in Hagrid's hut:

"_I'm not quite sure it works properly, Professor," Harry told Remus quietly. "I saw a name on it yesterday of somebody I know to be dead."_

"_And who might that be?" Remus asked kindly._

"_Peter Pettigrew." Remus' eyes widened._

"_That's impossible."_

"_It's just what I saw," Harry said, shrugging. Remus tapped the parchment he was holding and muttered, _

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."_

_He glanced around it, looking for the words _Peter Pettigrew_. When he found them, he gasped. The words _Abigail Lupin _were right by his. And they were headed straight for the Whomping Willow._

_Remus muttered "Mischief managed," threw the map back into Harry's hands, said, "I'll take it in a moment, I must go," and ran to the back door. He threw it open and looked toward the Willow, just visible. He saw a flash of blonde hair disappearing below the roots and ran after it._

_Harry stepped out of Hagrid's hut slowly and walked toward Hermione, Riley, and Ron. He quickly told them what had happened, and they all departed for the castle. Harry opened the map, and saw Remus' name in the passageway under the Whomping Willow. _Abigail Lupin _and _Peter Pettigrew _were near the edge of the map. Harry stopped walking._

"_Guys, look." Riley, Hermione, and Ron all hung back to look at what he was pointing at. By the time they looked, Abbey and Pettigrew were disappearing off of the edge of the map. "What do you suppose is going on?" he asked them._

"_I don't know," Riley said slowly. "But we're going to find out, right?" They all stared at her blankly. She rolled her eyes. "We _always _investigate these types of things. Do you have the cloak, Harry? It's going to be past curfew soon. Knowing our luck Snape will come out." Harry tossed her the cloak and she put it on around all four of them. Their feet showed, but nobody would notice unless they were looking closely. "Come on." _

_She led the way to the Whomping Willow. They all followed her lead, confused but curious. When she reached the Whomping Willow, she threw the cloak off and tried to slip past it while it was still and silent, but when she got just an inch too close, it swung at her. She jumped quickly out of the way to avoid being smacked in the face._

"_Well there goes that plan – " Riley started to say, but Hermione cut her off._

"_Crookshanks! What are you doing?" _

_The ginger cat had come out of nowhere, and the four friends watched as he slinked along the ground, out of reach of the trees flailing branches, and put his paw on a knob in the tree. It became immobilized instantly, and Crookshanks led the way into the gap in the roots. Ron, Hermione, and Harry threw off the cloak, all dropping it, believing that one of the others had it, and followed Riley into the passageway..._

Phoenix led me down the long tunnel. When I guessed we were between a quarter and half of the way through it, I heard someone yelling down it – I couldn't make out the voice or what they were saying, but somehow I knew it was Dad yelling at me to come back and asking me what I was doing. Phoenix picked up the pace when he heard him, and I was now jogging to keep up.

I was soon in the Shrieking Shack, and I ran upstairs to the same room that Father and I had been in last time. He was sitting, as a dog, on the bed just like last time. I wondered what he did all day – just sit around lazily all day in this God-forsaken place?

He transformed as soon as he saw me and patted the bed beside him, smiling. I shook my head, and his smile turned upside-down. "What?" he asked.

"I've got the _rat_. But I think Dad was after me – " As if on cue, I heard someone downstairs call,

"Abbey? Abigail Catherine Lupin, where are you? Why are you ignoring me?" I knew I was in deep trouble – he never used my full name, never _ever_ had I heard him call me _Abigail Catherine Lupin_.

Father's eyes widened as we heard footsteps downstairs – Dad must have been checking every room for me. I quickly pulled open my bag, pulled the squirming rat out by the tail, and walked quickly and quietly over to Father. He took the rat from me – he was squirming more than ever now – and I gave him my wand without being asked.

The door flung open before Father could do anything.

"_Expelliarmus!" _My wand flew in an arc toward the door, where Dad was standing. He caught it effortlessly and stared me down – Father had ducked behind the four poster bed, probably frightened that Dad would kill him, and Dad must not have seen him.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" he yelled. "Abigail Catherine Lupin, _why wouldn't you answer me? _And what the hell are you doing here?" I had never heard Dad so angry. I knew that I was cowering from him, but I couldn't help it – an angry Dad was something to be frightened of, because he didn't get angry easily. "I don't know what you think you're doing, and I haven't the faintest idea why you would disobey me like that and actually go near that tree – !"

"It wasn't her fault, Remus."

Dad wheeled about, his wand held high, as Father stepped out from behind the four-poster bed.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**

**Next chapter is a shortie, and it's Sam's POV - now I couldn't leave Sam out of it, could I?  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks HPJellicleCat for the review!**

**As I mentioned before, this chapter is short – which is how I updated so fast – and is in Sam's POV.**

Chapter 11

"I'm telling you, I'll win her over one of these days."

That was all that he had to say to tick me off – the full moon was in two days, and I was moody like usual. I grabbed Malfoy by the back of his shirt and spun him around. When he was facing me, I pushed him, by the shoulders, against the wall. He stared at me with wide, frightened eyes as I shook his shoulders roughly.

"Look here, Malfoy," I spat. "If I ever hear you talking about my sister like she's something to be _won _like that _one more time_, you've got another thing coming. Girls are not something you just _win – _"

"Mr. Lupin."

I let go of Malfoy's robes sharply. He stumbled forward as I turned toward Snape, putting on what I hoped looked like an innocent expression. Snape strode toward me, his robes billowing out behind him like usual.

"_What do you think you are doing?_" Seeing no other option but to tell the truth because it was obvious he had saw me, I replied slyly,

"Threatening Malfoy, sir." I paused. "But only because he – "

"I don't care what Mr. Malfoy did that made you threaten him, Mr. Lupin," he said sharply. "Threatening is never, _ever_ excusable. Ten points from Gryffindor." He turned around and strode back out. Malfoy sniggered beside me, and I turned to him as soon as Snape rounded the corner in the corridor. I rose my wand to curse him, but I heard Snape call back, "And a detention, tonight at seven, my office, for almost cursing Mr. Malfoy."

That night just before seven, I trudged down to Snape's office in the dungeons. I knew the route well – the number of times Fred, George and I had been sent there was uncountable. He was sitting at his desk grading papers when I entered, and he hardly glanced up.

"We will be going to do some work in the forest tonight." I grunted in response and slumped into the nearest desk to wait for him to finish grading the papers.

We sat in silence for several minutes before I heard his chair scooting back. I looked up and saw him headed toward the door. I followed slowly.

He lead the way down toward the Forbidden Forest. But as we neared the Whomping Willow, he stopped so suddenly that I almost ran into him.

"What the – ?" I started to ask, but he interrupted me.

"Go back up to the castle. You will serve your detention another night."

Bewildered, but curious, I headed halfway back to the castle. But when Snape wouldn't notice, I darted into the shadows of some oak trees. I watched between some branches and saw Snape picking up something by the base of the Whomping Willow. He waved his wand, the tree became immobilized, and he disappeared into the roots of the tree.

Confused, I made my way out of my hiding place and to the tree. It was still immobilized, and I saw where Snape had gone – into a gap in the roots. I glanced around to make sure that nobody was around, and then slipped in after him.

I hunched over and lit my wand. I was in a long, twisting tunnel that I couldn't see the end of. The ceiling was short, and I had to walk hunched over.

After a moment of contemplation, I headed down the passageway after Snape.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**

**The next chapter will be back to Abbey's POV.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks HPJellicleCat, sweeteetwo, Duskfire1954, reddragon288 for the reviews!**

**This is Abbey's POV again. **

Chapter 12

"S-Sirius?"

I stared wildly from Dad to Father, back and forth, back and forth, but neither of them seemed likely to move any time soon. They were staring straight at each other, Dad's wand pointed at Father's chest, Father's hands held up in a surrender gesture. They seemed to have forgotten that I was there already.

"Where is he?"

At first, I was confused – what was Dad talking about? – but then I realized that after I had left Hagrid's hut, he must have looked for Pettigrew's name on the map, and must have seen it, for he now seemed to know exactly what was going on.

Father reached down and pulled the rat out of his pocket. He was squirming and squeaking trying to get away, scratching up Father's wrists as he held him up, but he didn't seem to care about the scratches on his arms.

"But then...why hasn't he shown himself before now...Unless – " Dad paused, his eyes widening. I thought that I knew what was going on in his mind – he had probably just figured out everything – how Pettigrew had been secret-keeper, how _he _had killed those Muggles, how Father had been framed – okay, so maybe not _everything_, but some of it, at least.

"Unless _he _was the one – unless you switched – without telling me?"

His eyes strayed from the rat up to Father for the first time, who looked about to nod in reply when I slipped out of the room quietly, leaving my bag on the ground by Dad, who still held my wand. They had obviously forgotten my presence, and I felt like an intruder.

I leaned against the wall by the door, and was about to slide down and sit when I heard footsteps from downstairs. There were more than one pair – at least three – and they were all light, too light to belong to adults. I pushed myself off of the wall and walked slowly and quietly toward the stairs. I leaned over the balcony and saw four shadows moving in my direction and heard murmurs.

"Hello?" I called over the edge. The voices stopped, as did the shadows. "Hello?" I repeated.

"Abbey?"

Into my reign of vision came Riley. She was standing directly below me, and I furrowed my eyebrows at her as Ron, Harry, and Hermione joined her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. To my surprise, Dad and/or Father hadn't heard us yet – or maybe they were choosing to ignore us – either way, I was surprised they hadn't come out yet to see who I was talking to.

"I could ask you the same question," she replied slyly.

"Well, I asked first," I said. She huffed – that had always been her favorite response as a child.

"We saw your name on the map with Peter Pettigrew in that tunnel, and then we saw Dad's name following yours."

"Peter Pettigrew?" I asked. "You've lost your bonkers, you have," I joked – I knew they would find out sooner or later that I knew what they were talking about, but I had nothing better to do beside mess around with Riley's mind. "Pettigrew's dead, you know that. How could he have been on the map? It must just be malfunctioning – "

"The map never lies," Riley spat. "You know that as well as I." I rose my eyebrows and shrugged.

"Well, then I don't know why – " but my words got lost in my throat as we heard Dad say loudly,

"Together?"

Riley, realizing who the voice belonged to, suddenly ran up the stairs, Ron, Hermione, and Harry right behind her. I tried to block their way by standing in the middle of the stairs, but she shoved me roughly to the side – it wasn't like I was much to push away anyway.

I growled as I grabbed onto the railing to keep from falling over it. It cracked, and then suddenly gave away and broke, falling to the side and to the ground. Somebody from behind me grabbed me around the waist to keep me from falling with it. I gasped as it crashed to the ground. Whoever had caught me pulled me to my feet – when I turned around I saw that it was Ron, and I smiled gratefully at him before he followed Riley, Hermione, and Harry up to the room.

I quickly dashed after him and into the room, where Father held a squirming Pettigrew, pointing my wand at him, and Dad had his wand pointed at him in turn. Both were staring from Riley to Harry to Hermione to Ron and finally to me.

"What the bloody hell is going – ?" Ron started to ask, but Dad interrupted him.

"What are you all doing here?" He looked at me as he said it, and I rose my eyebrows, lifting my hands in surrender position as Father had earlier.

"Don't look at me – I've been here the whole time! And I tried to stop them from coming in, but Riley pushed me – and broke the railing, by the way." I glared at her, but she refused to look away from Dad.

"Scabbers!" Ron exclaimed suddenly, his eyes wide as he first noticed the rat in Father's hand. "What are you doing – ?" he started to ask, but Hermione interrupted him.

"_I don't believe it!_" she screamed. "You – you – !" she pointed wildly at Dad. I didn't see an end to this anytime soon, so I leaned against the door frame into a comfortable position.

"Hermione – "

"You and him! I didn't tell anyone, I've been covering up for you – !" Shoot, Hermione had figured it out – she had figured out that Dad was a werewolf. " – I trusted you! And all this time, you've been his friend!"

"You're wrong," Dad said calmly. "I haven't been Sirius's friend, but I am now – let me explain."

"NO!" Hermione screamed. "Don't trust him, he's been helping Black into the castle, he wants you dead too, Harry – he's a werewolf!"

There was silence. Dad was calm, but slightly pale, smiling slightly at Hermione.

"Only one out of three, Hermione," I said quietly when nobody said anything. Everybody turned to me, seeming to notice me for the first time – what, am I _invisible _or something? "He hasn't been helping him into the castle, _nobody_ in this room wants Harry dead, but – "

"I can't deny that I'm a werewolf." Ron took a step back, and said,

"You're a _werewolf? _We trusted you – !"

"Being a werewolf doesn't change who he is, Ron," I said, with the tone that people use when talking to small children, at the same time as Father said, "What difference does that make?" Ron glanced at me and then Father and then Dad before finally resting his eyes on Riley as she said,

"That really _doesn't _change who he is."

"Wait," Ron said. "You _knew_? And you didn't tell us?" Riley laughed humorlessly.

"Honestly? After how you took the news just now? You think that Dad's a terrible person suddenly because he's a werewolf – are Abbey and I terrible people because we are half werewolf blood?" The three shut their mouth instantly, looking ashamed of themselves. "Just because Dad's a werewolf doesn't mean he's been helping Black. Although I do think it looks like he has been."

"He hasn't," I said. She turned to me.

"How do _you _know that he hasn't?" she asked me suspiciously. I felt the eyes of everybody in the room on me as I smiled slightly at Riley. Even though I knew what her response would be, I asked,

"How do you know that he _has_?" She narrowed her eyes.

"I asked first." My smile widened – she had said just what I had wanted and expected.

"Because," I said slowly. "Because _I _havebeen helping him." There was a ringing silence, much like the one when Hermione had said that Dad was a werewolf. Then, suddenly, more than one voice said sharply,

"You've been _what?_" I laughed.

"Oh come on! It's not _that _surprising. Wasn't _I _the one that everybody had, initially, followed here? _I _was the one who had had doubts since the sorting. _I _was the one who had tried to make it obvious to Dad that I knew the truth – or, rather, that I _thought _the truth. _I _was the one who had brought Pettigrew here – " I motioned toward Scabbers.

"Did you just call Scabbers _Pettigrew_?" Ron asked, bewildered. I turned toward him, and smiled slightly at him.

"Yes, Ron, I did. And it _wasn't _a mistake."

"He's an Animagus," Father said, jumping to my aid. "By the name of Peter Pettigrew."

"Peter Pettigrew's dead!" Harry yelled. "He killed him 12 years ago!" He pointed at Father, who opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted.

"But didn't you see his name on the map yesterday, too?"

"How did you know that?" 

"I know more than it seems I do," I replied slyly.

"Well the map must have been lying – "

"The map never lies!"

"You've been helping him?" Dad asked suddenly. I turned to him to see him staring at me with his eyes wide and mouth half open.

"Oh come on – now that you know the truth, can you blame me?"

"And what's the truth?" Riley asked.

"Come on, Remus," Father said impatiently. "Let's do this!" He pointed my wand at the rat in his hand, but Dad dove in front of it. Father groaned.

"We've got to explain!"

"We can explain afterward! Now move, Remus!" Father snarled.

"They've got a right to know everything! Ron's kept him as a pet! And Riley, and Abbey, and Harry – you owe them the truth, Sirius!" Father suddenly dropped my wand to his side and groaned.

"I already know the truth," I pointed out. Both Dad and Father shot me a warning glare, and I shut up instantly.

"Fine. Tell them. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for."

So, slowly but surely, Dad started to explain how Pettigrew, Harry's father, and Father became Animagi for him.

When I guessed he was halfway through explaining, I felt myself drowsing off – Father had explained this to me already, and I knew the whole story. But suddenly, a hand clamped over my mouth and I was drug out of the room. Of course, nobody noticed – they either had their back turned to me or were so absorbed in Dad's story to pay me any attention.

The intruder pulled me into the hallway, behind the open door and close to the stairs, spun me around and pinned me against the wall, their hand still over my mouth. I found myself face-to-face with Snape.

"Well, well, well," he said quietly and maliciously, throwing a silky-looking cloak onto the ground and pulling out his wand, which he pointed directly at my chest. My eyes widened as I realized that Father still had my wand, so I had no means for self-defense. "Miss Lupin. Out after hours. Out-of-bounds. With a convicted murderer and werewolf. You and your friends will be in big trouble for this – possibly even face suspension."

I wanted to respond – to tell him that he was an idiot and had it all wrong – but he kept his hand firmly over my mouth as he glanced through the crack in the door. I could hear Dad getting read to tell Harry, Hermione, Riley, and Ron of the joke that Father had played on Snape when they were in school. Snape growled at the memory and then turned back to me.

"Tell me, what exactly is going on here. _Don't_," he added sharply, "say anything else." He slowly removed his hand, but I kept my mouth firmly shut. "Come on, girl!" he said louder than before. Somehow, still nobody heard him. "Tell me."

"I think not." Snape growled, grabbed the silvery cloak, and said rougly to me just before he put it on,

"Stay here. Or else you'll be sorry." He threw the cloak on and I realized that it was an Invisibility Cloak, for he disappeared.

I heard somebody – Hermione? – say something,and then I could see Snape pull the cloak off of himself from the crack in the door, pointing his wand directly at Dad.

"Abbey?"

I spun around to see a very confused looking Sam standing at the bottom of the steps.

"Sam? What are you doing here?" I asked at the same time as he asked,

"What's going on?" Our eyes met and he ran up the stairs two at a time. When he was by my side, we both looked through the crack to see Snape pointing his wand and yelling at Dad, who was trying to make him see reason.

"Severus," Dad said. "Don't be a fool – "

"It's a habit by now," Father spat.

"Quite, Sirius!"

"Look at you two, quarreling like an old married couple! The creature and the criminal."

"In case you've forgotten – " Father started, but Snape cut him off, pointing his wand at the door Sam and I hid behind.

"After you. When we get up to the castle, the Dementors will have _two _little kisses ready – "

I couldn't suppress my rage – neither, it seemed, could Father, Riley, or Sam, for Sam and I both burst into the room, and Father let out a howl of rage. All three of them turned their wands on Snape – well, in Father's case, he turned _my _wand on Snape – as Snape turned from one of us to the other before realizing that I had no wand and pointing his wand at me. He made no move to curse me, however, and instead just jeered at us.

"Mr. Lupin, I told you to go back to the castle. Like father, like son," he sneered. "Your father also found no reason to set store by the rules – "

"Remus followed the rules better than even you, and you know it," Father spat. Snape turned on him.

"I'm not talking about _Lupin_." I saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchange looks of confusion, and I knew that, somehow, they were going to find out that Black was our father, and that, somehow, in turn, the whole school would find out.

Snape looked around, keeping his wand on me, taking in Dad standing, trying to be calm but failing, Sam, with his wand pointed at him, Riley, lowering her wand slightly, seeing no other way out, Father, who could kill Snape with the look he was giving him, me, standing there helplessly, and Ron, Hermione, and Harry, who looked as confused as ever.

"Look at this," Snape said, smirking. "A nice little family reunion." I laughed.

"If it was a _nice _reunion, _you _sure wouldn't be here." Snape shot me a glare, but I wasn't fazed – he didn't scare me.

"Hold your tongue, Miss Lupin. You are already facing suspension from this school. What a pity – all of the Lupin kids, along with _the boy who lived_, _know-it-all _Granger, and one of the Weasley's, will be suspended. Or maybe even expelled." He smirked. "What a pity – Black finally gets to see his children, only for him to get a little kiss and for them to get expelled."

Hermione, Ron, and Harry gasped, their eyes traveling from one Black-Lupin to the next, over and over.

Father, Sam, and Riley were outraged. They all pointed their wands at him and shouted,

"_Expelliarmus!_" Snape was flung toward me – I had to jump to the side, next to Harry, to avoid being hit by him as he hit the wall and slid down. His wand flew in an arc and I caught it. Hermione's hands flung to her mouth and she shrieked, I stared, shocked, at his unconscious body, Father looked gleeful, and Dad even looked a little glad, and the others all seemed to just realize what had happened as a dribble of blood dripped from under his hair.

"Oh my God – you attacked a teacher!" Hermione muttered.

"Who cares?" I asked, making a disgusted face toward Snape.

"The git had it coming to him," Sam agreed, glaring at Snape.

"He wasn't being serious, was he?" Ron asked, his eyes traveling from Father to Dad. "About – about – ?" I was tempted to make a comment on the pun, but I restrained. Dad looked at him, but Father had gone back to glaring at Pettigrew.

"Yes, Ron, he was," Dad said quietly.

"How is that even possible?" Harry interrupted, disgust evident in his voice. He inched slowly away from me and I sighed, throwing my hands up in annoyance.

"Oh my God! We're part werewolf, and we're Blacks, and we are suddenly terrible people! Hermione – _you're_ amuggleborn –_ you're_ a terrible person! Ron – _you're_ poor, _and _a Blood Traitor – _you're _a terrible person! Harry – _you_ can speak to snakes – _you're _a terrible person!" I failed to convince them that we weren't terrible, though, and they kept shooting Riley, Sam and I mistrusting glares.

"It's time we offer you some proof," Dad said suddenly. He turned to Father, who held Scabbers out in front of him. "Together – ?"

"Wait!" Ron said suddenly.

"Look, Ron," I said before he could say anything. "They know what they're doing – just let them do it." Dad and Father nodded in agreement.

"But there's no way to be sure that – !" Ron said, but I interrupted him.

"What's the biggest part of Pettigrew they ever found, Ron?"

"His – his finger – so?"

"_So_," I said. "Scabbers has a front toe missing, right?" Ron opened his mouth – to object, I'm sure – but I said before he could, "Don't even say that – that he lost it in a fight with another rat, or something. Who're you kidding? You know as well as I that that is _highly _unlikely." Ron gave me a dirty glare, but I ignored him – he didn't scare me.

"But then why, if Pettigrew is alive, did they only ever find a finger?" he asked angrily, looking toward me with a smug look on his face – I returned the look in kind.

"To fake is own death, of course," Dad said.

"And why did he fake his own death?" Harry asked, suddenly angry again – I had thought that we might have him convinced. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you did my parents!"

"Harry," Dad said urgenlyt, "don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down — but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father — Sirius tracked Peter down —"

"I don't believe you. You've both lost it," Riley said, shaking her head slowly. She looked toward me, her eyes narrowed. "And you must have cursed Abbey – she wouldn't believe this nonsense – "

"Ready for the proof?" Dad asked, ignoring her. "Ron, if Scabbers isn't Pettigrew, it won't hurt him." After a moment of hesitation, Ron nodded slowly. "Together?" Dad asked. Father nodded.

A flash of blue light erupted from my wand and Dad's wand. Scabbers hung, frozen in midair, and then fell onto the ground. Then, quite suddenly, a short man with small beady eyes and colorless hair with a bald spot appeared where the rat had been. I let out a small shriek – of anything, I hadn't expected _him –_ why did I keep screaming when these things happened?

"Well, hello, Peter," Dad said pleasantly.

"S – Sirius," Pettigrew croaked. "R – Remus. My friends...my old friends..." Father let out a growl from deep in his throat, and he went to lift his wand, but Dad gave him a warning look. Pettigrew suddenly turned on Harry.

"Harry! You look just like your father. We were the best of friends, he and I – "

"How dare you talk about James in front of Harry!" Father yelled. "After _you _sent him to his death!"

"I didn't – "

"Lily and James switched secret-keepers to you, Peter," Father growled. "Don't try to deny it – !"

"No!" Pettigrew exclaimed suddenly. "Remus – you don't believe this...wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd change the plans?"

"Not if they thought that I was the spy, Peter," Dad said calmly. He didn't even ask Father if that was why, but we all knew that it was.

"Forgive me, Remus."

"Not at all, Sirius," Dad said. "And will you, in return, forgive me for believing _you _were the spy?"

"Of course," Father replied. "Now, Peter, you will _pay _for sending Lily and James to Voldemort."

"I didn't mean to! The Dark Lord, you have no idea what weapons he possesses. Ask yourself what you would have done, Sirius! What would you have done?"

"I would have died! Died rather than betray my friends!"

"You should have realized, Peter, that if Voldemort didn't kill you, then we would," Dad said calmly. "Goodbye, Peter." I wanted to intervene – they couldn't kill him, because otherwise they had no proof, but Pettigrew beat me to it.

"No!" Pettigrew looked around and laid eyes on Ron. I noticed that he was staring at him in disgust. "Ron! Haven't I been a good friend? A good pet?"

"I let you sleep in my _bed_!" Ron exclaimed. I almost laughed, and took this as Ron silently admitting that he believed us.

"If you made a better rat than wizard, it isn't much to boast about, Peter," Father said harshly.

"Sweet girl – clever girl – surely you won't let them – " Hermione stepped back out of his grasp. Pettigrew looked around – he knew talking to Harry would make Father yell at him, and Sam and Riley were both giving him the dirtiest looks ever. I knew they all believed Father, Dad, and I now – they just didn't want to admit that they had been wrong. I, on the other hand, was leaning casually against the door frame – mostly to block his exit if he tried to run – and he turned on me, stepping toward me.

"Abbey – "

"How dare you talk to my daughter!" Father exclaimed, jumping between me and Pettigrew and pointing his wand at him.

"In case you've forgotten, _Scabbers_," I spat around Father, "_I _was the who brought you here. Don't try to beg to me for freedom. And, I'm the reason you're going to the Dementors, not getting killed. Don't even think for a second that you will get away now." Pettigrew stared, his eyes wide, at Father.

"Shall we go back up to the castle?" Dad asked suddenly. When everybody else nodded, he conjured up manacles and soon one of Pettigrew's hands was chained to one of Sam's, the other to one of Father's. I picked up my bag and led the way out – behind Phoenix and Crookshanks, of course – with Riley and Dad walking beside me, Dad floating Snape along behind us, Harry, Ron, and Hermione behind him – I think they still hadn't gotten used to the fact that Riley, Sam, and I were Sirius Black's kids – and finally Sam, Pettigrew, and Father.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**

**By the way, in case you think you missed something, Sirius and Remus told Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Riley about how Pettigrew blew up the street and framed Sirius and how they switched secret-keepers while Abbey was in the hallway with Snape.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks HPJellicleCat, sweeteetwo, Duskfire1954, run-for-your-life-hikari, and reddragon288 – Sirius is one of my favorite characters too! I haven't quite decided what's going to happen later in this story, I just come up with it as I go – for the reviews!**

**This is Abbey's POV again – unless I say otherwise, assume the rest will be in Abbey's POV. **

**I can't believe that it's less than a week till Deathly Hallows is out! Woo! I'm excited!**

Chapter 13

"You know what this means?" I heard Father ask Harry as we all clambered out of the tunnel, his wand still trained on Pettigrew. "Turning Wormtail in?"

"You're free," Harry answered instantly.

"Yes," Father said. "But I'm also – I don't know if anyone ever told you – I'm your Godfather."

"Yeah, I knew that."

"Well...your parents appointed me your guardian. If anything happened to them...I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle." I almost snorted at this – I had heard stories of the Dursleys. "But...well...think about it. Remus, Sam, Riley, and Abbey would be there, too...Once my name's cleared...if you wanted a...a different home..."

"What – live with you? Leave the Dursleys?"

"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to. I understand, I just thought I'd – " I really did snort now, but managed to pass it off as a sneeze.

"Are you insane?" Harry exclaimed. "Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"

"You want to? You mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it!" Father's face broke into a smile, and he turned back to Pettigrew, who was struggling against the bonds on his arms. "Stop that," he growled.

"Sirius," Dad said suddenly, his voice sounding worried. And I soon knew why – the familiar chill was creeping over us. I turned in time to see several Dementors floating near the forest, coming our way. "Sirius – I've got Wormtail – you better transform," Dad said urgently. "_Now_." I heard the chains moving around, but I kept staring at the Dementors.

I felt something wet hit my hand, and I looked down to see the familiar, bear-like dog that was Father nudging my hand with his nose, with my wand clamped in his mouth. I took it from him and patted his head, leading the way past the Dementors – who didn't recognize Father, thank God – up to the castle.

I thought that maybe, since Snape was with us and he seemed to always be the one to catch us out after hours, we wouldn't be caught. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

"Students out of bed after hours?" I groaned – Filch. I would recognize that voice _anywhere_. "My, my, we are in trouble."

He appeared around the corner with Mrs. Norris leading the way, a lantern held high in his hands. He clicked his tongue when he saw me, but I just smiled at him as Dad caught up with me. Filch frowned.

"They have permission to be out, Argus," Dad said smoothly. Filch made a noise that sounded like a growl, and I smiled mischievously at him as we passed. I didn't know exactly where Dumbledore's office was, but Father seemed to know – he ran ahead of us, and soon we were standing in front of a stone gargoyle.

"Lemon drops," Dad said, and the gargoyle leapt to the side. I followed Father onto the steps of a moving staircase, and knocked on the door at the top, doubting that Dumbledore would even be up at this hour. But, to my surprise, I heard his voice say, "Enter." I pulled the door open and held it open for Father, Dad, Pettigrew, and Sam, and then Ron took it from me and I followed them in.

Dumbledore's office was cluttered – so cluttered the only wall I could see was the clock, which read five-till eleven (I had thought that it would be later that that) – and Dumbledore himself was sitting at his desk. He looked up over his half-moon spectacles, and I saw confusion cross his face as Pettigrew entered.

"Mr. Pettigrew? Is that you?" Pettigrew looked, frightful, to Dad, who just rose his eyebrows at him, his wand still pointed at him, and he shrunk back, afraid. "To what do I owe this late night visit?"

"It's quite a long story, but you have to hear it all to understand," Dad said. Dumbledore nodded, still peering at Pettigrew, but also glancing with a strange look on his face toward Father, who was sitting patiently between Pettigrew and I, glaring daggers at Pettigrew, as if daring him to make a wrong move.

Dumbledore conjured eight chairs and we all sat – including Pettigrew, who still had Dad's wand pointed at him. Snape was dropped lightly on the floor, and Dumbledore noticed him for the first time, and seemed to contemplate reviving him but decided not to.

"This is going to sound crazy, Albus," Dad started. "But Sirius was framed." Dumbledore furrowed his eyebrows, but didn't say anything and instead let Dad continue. "Wormtail here – " he flicked his wand in Pettigrew's direction, who flinched, as if expecting Dad to curse him " – framed him. Sirius convinced Lily and James to switch Secret-Keepers at the last minute to Pettigrew, for he thought that it was the perfect plan – a bluff, for Voldemort would be sure to go for Sirius, he would never expect them to use Wormtail. Nobody knew except Sirius, Wormtail, and Lily and James.

"Wormtail was the traitor the whole time – not Sirius. When Sirius saw what Wormtail had done, he cornered him, intending to kill him for betraying Lily and James in cold blood like that. But Wormtail yelled for the whole-street to hear that _Sirius _had betrayed Lily and James, and then blown apart the street. He cut off his own finger to fake his death so everybody would think it was Sirius, and then sped down the sewer as a rat – he, James, and Sirius had become Animagi – "

"I know," Dumbledore said shortly, his eyes twinkling like usual.

"You – you _know_?" When Dumbledore merely nodded, Dad asked, "For how long?"

"I've known for a while. Now continue."

"Well, anyway, Wormtail's Animagus form was a rat – "

"Which is exactly what he is," I muttered. Father looked up at me, as if surprised I had said that, but seeming to be rather glad that I had.

" – and he sped down the sewer as a rat and posed as Ron's pet rat. Sirius escaped Azkaban by using his Animagus form because Fudge gave him his paper when he came to inspect Azkaban, and it was the paper with the Weasley's on the front, and he saw Wormtail on Ron's shoulder and knew that he would be going back to Hogwarts.

"Those times he broke into the castle – he didn't want to hurt Harry. He wanted Wormtail." Dumbledore nodded, looking at Father.

"Come on, Sirius – go ahead and transform." After a moment's hesitation, Father transformed into his normal self again.

"It's true, sir," he said quickly. "Believe me. I – "

"I believe you. The problem is getting the ministry to believe you."

"I'll take Veritaserum," he said quickly. "Or we can give some to Wormtail. I don't care. But I want him put in Azkaban."

"Well," Dumbledore said, standing up. "I know that it's rather late, but why not call our dear minister and a few aurors for witnesses here right now?" He went over to the fire, threw some floo powder in, and stuck his head in. After a moment, he pulled it back out.

"You may want to transform back into a dog, Sirius, until we have him at least somewhat convinced." Father nodded and transformed again – not a second too soon, for just that second, Minister of Magic Fudge came out of the fire, looking tired but ready. Following him came a tall, black wizard, an older wizard with a fake eye and wooden leg with many scars, a man with graying hair, and young girl, with short, pink hair, whom I knew – her name was Tonks, and she had been Charlie's friend at school and had been over to the Burrow for dinner many times before. She smiled at Ron, Sam, Riley and I, and I waved friendlily back.

"You didn't need to bring so many Aurors, Cornelius," Dumbledore said as a way of greeting. "Two would have been just fine."

"Well Tonks here – " he motioned toward Tonks " – is getting some training done by coming, it's Mad-Eye's last day before retirement – " he motioned toward the older man with the fake eye " – Kingsley is one of the best Aurors – " he motioned toward the black wizard " – and I had to bring Scrimgeour, as he's head of the department, " he motioned toward the last wizard. "Now, on what orders do you call us here this late in the night? And why are so many students out of bed at this hour?"

So, Dumbledore recounted the story to Fudge and the Aurors. Only the black wizard, Kingsley, and the girl, Tonks, seemed at all convinced.

"Who told you such a lunatic story?" Fudge admonished. Dumbledore reached into a drawer in his desk and pulled out a small vial of potion. I knew what it was – Veritaserum.

"You can't curse him. Just wait," Dumbledore said. Fudge seemed confused, but nodded nonetheless as Dumbledore nodded at Father, who transformed back into a wizard. Fudge let out a yelp, and soon five wands were on Father, who held his hands up in the familiar surrender position.

"I'm not armed, I swear," he said calmly. "I'm just going to take some Veritaserum."

"How do we know that it is really Veritaserum?" Fudge asked. Dumbledore rose his eyebrows and said,

"Here. Smell it." He lifted the vial up to Fudge's nose, and he wrinkled it – I guessed that Veritaserum had a unique smell. "Now, unless you'd rather try it yourself to make sure, I'm going to give Sirius here some, and then, if you still don't believe us, we will give Pettigrew some." He gave the vial to Father, who dropped three drops into his mouth, and then handed it back to Dumbledore. His eyes went fuzzy, and I saw realization dawn of Fudge – only Veritaserum must be able to do that.

"Do you know who I am?" Dumbledore asked calmly. Father nodded.

"You're Albus Dumbledore." Dumbledore nodded.

"Who are you?"

"Sirius Orion Black-Lupin." I never realized that he had probably changed his name when he and Dad had been married.

"Who're you married to?"

"Remus John Black-Lupin."

"Who are your kids?"

"Samson Regulus Black-Lupin, Riley Lily Black-Lupin, and Abigail Catherine Black-Lupin." Dumbledore nodded calmly.

"Are you an Animagus?"

"Yes, an dog."

"Was James Potter and is Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yes – James was a stag, Peter a rat."

"Have you ever followed orders given to you by Lord Voldemort?"

"No."

"Were you Lily and James Potter's Secret-Keeper?"

"No."

"Who was?"

"Peter Pettigrew. Wormtail."

"Did you blow up that street and kill those Muggles?"

"No, Peter Pettigrew did – he framed me. Cut off his own thumb and faked his death. I escaped Azkaban to kill him for turning in Lily and James. I knew who he was because I saw him on Ron Weasley's shoulder in a picture in the paper that Fudge gave me." Dumbledore looked up at Fudge, who was staring, open mouthed, at Father.

"But – but – " He frowned. "Well, that settles it – Kingsley, Rufus, get Pettigrew to the Ministry and he will have a trial tomorrow." Kingsley and Scrimgeour took the manacles off of Sam and Pettigrew and put them on Pettigrew and themselves. Together, they flooed back to wherever they had come from.

"Mr. Black – Sirius," he said, turning to Father. "We need some time to talk things over."

"If you please, Cornelius," Dumbledore said suddenly. "The children should be going back to their beds. And Severus needs revived." With a flick of his wand, Snape was awake and upright again. He turned on Father, his wand held high, but Dumbledore said quickly, "Lower your wand, Severus. Escort the students back to their Common Room and then come back here, we will discuss things then."

Snape scowled but complied. Hermione, Ron, and Harry followed him out of the room, followed by Riley, who was staying a distance from them because of everything they had learned about us. Sam pushed me ahead of him, and I took one quick look back at Dad and Father – Father winked at me when he saw me looking – before Sam pushed me onto the staircase.

Nobody said anything the whole way to the Common Room, and once we reached the portrait of the Fat Lady – who must have recently replaced Sir Cadagon, for last I knew he had still been here – Hermione gave her the password. We all clambered in – Riley flopped onto a couch by the fire, and Sam and I sat beside her. I thought I saw Ron, Harry, and Hermione go up to their dormitories, but I wasn't sure.

Riley stared into the fire for a moment before she spoke.

"It's all going to be out tomorrow." Sam and I looked at her, knowing exactly what she was talking about, and Sam nodded.

"Yes," he said quietly. "It will."

"But why does it matter?" I asked softly. "He's innocent, so there's nothing wrong with being related to him."

"It doesn't matter," Riley said, looking over at me. "It will be nice to have the truth out. But do you honestly think that people will accept that Father is innocent as fast as we did?"

"There were three respectable Aurors there," Sam said. "Not to mention one in training and the _Minister_. If it's written in the _Prophet_, I'm sure people will believe it – even if that hag Skeeter writes it." Riley sighed.

"I guess you're right. It's just – even my _best friends _thought that we were freaks since we're part Blacks and part werewolf."

"Nobody's going to tell anybody about Lupin." We turned around and saw Ron, Harry, and Hermione standing there awkwardly watching us. Hermione had been the one that had spoken, and she stepped forward gingerly as she continued, "Riley – and Sam and Abbey – we did think you were – for lack of a better word – _freaks_ – at first," she added quickly. "But we weren't thinking rationally – I think it was more the fact that you _knew _and hadn't trusted us enough to tell us. It hurt us, because we tell you _everything_ – at least, _I _do." Hermione paused, looking down. "I know that I'm ashamed of thinking that now, and I'm sorry." After a moment, Harry and Ron stepped up beside her.

"I'm sorry too, Riley – and Abbey and Sam," Harry said quietly, also looking down. "It was a terrible thing to think, and I know that now – "

"Harry and Hermine are right," Ron agreed, nodding. "I'm sorry, too, guys. When you – " he looked toward me, " – Abbey, when you mentioned how Hermione was a muggleborn, and Harry can speak to snakes, and how I'm – well, a Weasley, and how we are perfectly fine, it made me realize how wrong we had been."

"Although," Harry said thoughtfully. "I still don't see how that's possible. Unless – "

"I don't even want to hear what your _unless _is going to be, Harry," I said disgustedly. "But we're Potion Babies."

"What's that?" Ron asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Even _I _knew what they were when I was told," I said. "They're babies that, instead of being grown in a woman, are 'brewed' for nine months with a potion." I shrugged. "Many wizard children are born that way – many don't know that they are, though."

Soon, Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed off to bed – probably to give Riley, Sam, and I some time alone. But we didn't have anything to say to each other.

"I'm going to go to bed," Riley said before she took off after Hermione. I stood up and stretched my back.

"I'm going to bed too."

"Night Cat."

"Night, Sam. See you tomorrow."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks reviewgrl, HPJellicleCat, and sweeteetwo for the reviews!**

**Sorry that it's short!**

**Who else is psyched about the Deathly Hallows tomorrow? I'm going to the midnight premiere here! Anybody else going to it?**

Chapter 14

"Have you heard?"

"Considering I _just _woke up – no, I haven't heard," I replied, rubbing my eyes groggily. I had woken up unpleasantly the next morning to hear Addison and Adelaide gossiping wildly about something.

"Sirius Black!" was all Addison could say.

"What about him? Was he caught?" I asked, pretending to be hopeful.

"Well, you could say that." I sat up quickly – had they not believed him?

"What?" I almost shrieked. "It's a simple 'yes' or 'no' question!" Addison and Adelaide stepped back, glancing at each other.

"Well – nobody actually knows the exact details yet," Addison started.

"I'm sure they'll be in the _Prophet _when it comes in the mail today," Adelaide added.

"But – well, they're _saying _that he's innocent." I wondered who had spread the rumor – Ron? Harry? Hermione? Riley? Sam? Dad? Maybe even Dumbledore? How had it spread so darn fast? "I mean, it's just a rumor." I started to laugh – I don't know why, but I did.

"I don't believe it. Innocent! Really, what are they going to come up with next time!"

Down at breakfast, I waited anxiously for the mail to arrive. I kept glancing up, looking for the swarms of owls – so often that Sean even took his time out of gossiping about Father to ask me what I was looking for.

"Mail," I answered quickly. "I want to see if this rubbish about Sirius Black is true." David leaned toward us from across the table and whispered,

"Did you hear that Black – supposedly – has three kids that go to school here?" I snorted.

"Yeah, right. If that's true, though, I feel sorry for the kids." I paused. "Where do all of these stupid rumors keep coming from anyway?" David motioned down the table, to where Sam sat watching the sky like I had been earlier.

"Sam keeps spurting them. Nobody knows where he hears them, but he says it's a legitimate source – he probably just makes them all up to get attention." Sam must have felt us looking at him, for he looked down at us and winked at me when he saw us looking. "What was that about?"

"Siblings aren't allowed to have inside jokes anymore?" I replied slyly. As I watched, Sam stood up and walked toward Riley. He sat down beside her and whispered something into her ear. She nodded and they both stood up and walked toward me. Sam sat beside me and whispered into my ear,

"I'd get going. Mails going to be here soon. Riley and I don't want to be here when everybody learns." I nodded and stood up to follow him and Riley out.

"I'll catch up to you two later," I said to Sean and David, who both looked confused but nodded anyway as I left. Just as I rounded the corner to the Entrance Hall, I heard the owls coming in.

"Come on," Riley said. "I had Cosmo go get a copy of the paper – he's taking it to the owlery." We practically ran to the owlery, where Cosmo sat on a windowsill waiting patiently for us. Riley ripped the paper open and read,

"_Sirius Black Proves to be Innocent._

"_Sirius Black was possibly the most infamous prisoner to ever to be held in Azkaban. But late last night, Minister Fudge along with Aurors Moody, Shackelbolt, Scrimgeour, and Trainee Tonks were called to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where, after long hours of questioning and use of Veritaserum, Sirius Black was proved to be innocent._

"_'He was framed,' Fudge explains, 'by none other than Peter Pettigrew – the wizard who Black supposedly killed twelve years ago. He was hiding in disguise as the pet rat of a young wizard – Pettigrew was an illegal Animagus.' Black, also, was an unregistered Animagus – that was how he had escaped Azkaban – a crime that usually requires a fine to be paid, but as Black spent twelve years in Azkaban for no reason, he was excused of this fine._

"_Pettigrew was, actually, the one who had blown up the street and killed a dozen muggles. He had then cut off his own finger to frame his death and sped down the sewer as a rat. Black had cornered Pettigrew because Pettigrew had been a traitor to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during the war and had handed Lily and James Potter, Black's best friends, over to the Dark Lord himself as he was their secret-keeper. _

"_Black was freed after several students – Abigail, Riley, and Samson Lupin, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, and Harry Potter – along with their Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Remus Lupin found Peter Pettigrew and convinced Headmaster Albus Dumbledore that Black was innocent._

_Black claims that now that he is free, he wants to redeem his position as Auror, get a house in the country, possibly near the coast, and have a peaceful life with his husband Remus Lupin, their children Abigail, Riley, and Samson Lupin, and his Godson Harry Potter."_

Riley sighed and closed the paper, looking at Father's picture on the front.

"Hey look," I said. "He got his hair cut." It was now shoulder length and actually tamable. He looked like a completely different person – it was amazing what a good shower and haircut could do. I could now tell how much he really _did _look like Sam. Below his picture was a picture of Wormtail, and below that a title above a very short article that read, "_Pettigrew Escapes!_"

"What?" I gasped as I ripped the paper from Riley's hands and read it aloud. "_Very late night, after being proved to be a mass-murderer and one of You-Know-Who's supporters during the war, Peter Pettigrew was left in the hands of two Dementors. But, because he is an Animagus, he transformed and escaped. _

_No word on where he might be headed, although many believe that he is headed to find his old master, if he really is still out there. _

_This new will probably be pushed to the side as everybody learns the new of Black and worries about whether or not he is truly innocent or not." _

"WHAT!" Sam and Riley both yelled, trying to rip the paper from my hands. They both skimmed the article, and as they did, I remembered what Professor Trewlawney had said.

"Shite." They both spun on me.

"Abigail! I've never heard such language from you – !" Riley started, but I cut her off.

"I should have _known _this was going to happen!"

"How could you have known? We thought the Aurors – "

"No! It's not like that!" I exclaimed. I took a deep breath and started, "Yesterday, before I took Pettigrew to Father, I ran into Trewlawney."

"How do you – ?" Sam started to ask, but Riley shushed him as I continued.

"She – she went into a kind of trance and told me, in a very strange voice, that – that..." I paused, trying to remember. "Now I remember exactly what she said. She said, 'the Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was.'" Sam and Riley stared at me, at a lost for words, before Riley said,

"We've got to tell somebody – Dad, Dumbledore, even _Snape_, just somebody. They've got to know that, if Trelawney actually made a _real _prediction, that Voldemort is going to rise again."

Sam led the way out of the owlery and to the Great Hall. We looked inside for Dad or Dumbledore, but neither of them were there. We somehow managed to avoid all the students as we ran up to Dad's office, where we found him having a conversation with none other than Dumbledore.

"Hello guys," Dad said, but when he noticed the worried looks on our faces, he asked apprehensively, "What's wrong? Was it the paper – ?"

"It has nothing to do with the paper," Sam said to ease his worries. Dad let out a breath of relief, and he and Dumbledore listened as Sam, Riley, and I explained. Afterward, Dad stepped back, knowing we were wanting Dumbledore to answer. Dumbledore only looked mildly impressed.

"You know, I think she may have made a real prediction," he said simply. "Who'd of thought? That brings her total of real predictions up to two. I should offer her a pay raise..."

"You don't even care about what the prediction said?" Riley asked, shocked. "I mean – if it's _real_, doesn't it mean that Voldemort is going to come back."

"But hasn't everybody been expecting that to happen sooner or later?" Dumbledore asked. "_Especially _because of the things that have happened these past two years here at Hogwarts." I realized that that _was _true – everybody had figured it was going to happen eventually.

"Yeah – I guess you're right," I said slowly. "I think that we've thought – maybe even _known_ – that it would happen eventually, but this prediction makes it more – more _real_. Like it's _really _hitting us now that he's going to come back and be – be worse than before." I paused. "When do you suppose he will come back?"

"Could be tomorrow," Dumbledore said calmly. Could be in a year. Could be in one hundred years when many of us are gone, and those of us who are left are too old to care. We won't know until it happens." With that, he turned and walked from the room...

After staying in Dad's office with Riley and Sam until lunch – it was a Saturday – I knew I would have to go out and face the world eventually. While Riley and Sam decided to stay and "help Dad grade paperwork," I headed down to the Great Hall.

I stood outside the doors for several minutes listening to everybody in the room talk about Father – literally, that's all I heard people talking about – I finally found that Gryffindor courage buried deep inside of me and pushed open the doors.

The hall silenced as I entered, but everyone almost promptly resumed their conversations in hushed voices, as though they didn't want me to catch them talking about Father.

"It's okay, people, I don't care if you're talking about my father!" I said loudly, but only loud enough for about half of the hall to hear. Annoyed, I saw David and Sean halfway down the Gryffindor table and made my way toward them. I sat across from them, ignoring the looks they were giving me as I stared blankly at the food on the table in front of me.

"Are you okay?" Sean finally asked. "You look terrible." Very tactful. I heard David kick him under the table for being tactless – Sean shot him a glare as I answered quietly,

"It's been a long night. Or haven't you read the paper?" They exchanged glances – they had probably made a deal not to bring up the paper, but now that I had, they didn't know what to say.

"Oh, we've read it," Sean said quietly. "I think, by now, the whole wizarding world has – maybe even the whole _Muggle _world."

"We don't think anything different about you," David said quickly, shooting Sean a glare. "I mean, you are who you are – you're not your parents. And besides, Black's innocent – you don't have murderer blood in you at all." I didn't know if they really believed that or not.

"But I have one question," Sean said, "how is it even possible? You know – for Black _and _Lupin to be your father?"

I couldn't help but snicker – of course they would ask that first.

"No – I want the full story of what happened last night!" David argued. Now I outright laughed, and I knew then that they believed what David had said earlier.

Addison, Adelaide, Troy, Emily, and everybody else within hearing distance – which was basically everybody at the Gryffindor table, and many people at the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables as well – as I started to explain the story of the previous night.

* * *

School ended without much more ado. Somebody in Ravenclaw had found out that Dad was a werewolf and the whole school knew soon as well. Dad resigned, for he knew parents wouldn't want a werewolf teaching their child. Sam and I had figured that somebody would find out, for we had been talking with Fred and George about how he wouldn't come back next year because of the jinx on the job.

I didn't want to go home. I mean, I _did, _because I would finally be with my whole family – Father had gotten his job as an Auror back and he and Dad had bought a house in the country near the southern coast. They were both coming to pick Riley, Sam, and I up at the station – Harry couldn't come quite yet because they had to get it checked with Dumbledore still (apparently they had to put protective charms on the house if Harry was going to live in it). And then there was the Quidditch World Cup this summer, that Father had managed to get Top Box seats for us, Harry, and the Weasley's.

I just didn't want to go home because I would miss my friends – sure I had promised to write and make plans with David, Sean, Troy and Addison and Adelaide, but it wasn't the same as seeing them every day.

The six of us shared a compartment on the train, laughing as though we were just on our way _to_ Hogwarts, but I knew each of us were upset on the inside. When we arrived at the train station, I was one of the first off of the train. Fred and George helped me get my trunk, and then I turned and saw Father and Dad deep in conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

All four of them waved Fred, George, and I over, and I followed the twins up to them. Mrs. Weasley hugged the twins, and I ran up to Father and Dad. Dad merely ruffled my hair – I had seen him just a few days earlier – and Father pulled me into a hug, his arms around my waist and lifting me up to his height. I laughed as Riley and Sam joined us, who both hugged Father lightly.

It was going to be a great summer.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks JojoBlack15, HPJellicleCat, sweeteetwo, and Duskfire1954 for the reviews!**

**Sorry for the long wait! I had a lot going on this past week, but I should be back to at least weekly updates soon.**

**Oh, and check out my new story _Blind Dates_, a one-shot set in the Marauder-era with a pairing of SB/RL.**

**I'm going to put up summaries for each different book now. There was one at the beginning of the third, so here's one for the fourth:**

**SUMMARY: Abbey, Riley, and Sam know this year is going to be a crazy one before it even starts from the Quiddtich World Cup fiasco. Now, they have to deal with discrimination from being part-werewolf and people doubting that Sirius really is innocent. Not to mention Sam wants to enter the Triwizard Tournament, Harry gets picked even though he didn't put his name in, Abbey has a not-so-secret admirer, and there's clearly an imposter at Hogwarts. Who thought this year could be crazier than the last?  
**

Chapter 15

"One day!"

"Shut _up_, Sam! We know!" Riley yelled.

I had never had a summer as great as the past one. The "house" turned out to be more of a mansion. It was awkward, at first, to see Dad with Father, _especially _when they would kiss, but soon enough it was like Riley, Sam and I had lived with it our whole life.

About halfway into June, Harry came to live with us. I hadn't had much time to see Sean and David, but I had been over to each of their houses at least once, and they had come over to ours twice.

Every morning, Sam would poke his head into everybody's rooms and tell them how many days left until we left for the Quidditch World Cup. At first, it was funny, but now, it was just annoying and pathetic.

The door to my bedroom opened, and Sam poked his head in, but before he could say anything, I exclaimed,

"I _know_, Sam! Only one ruddy day left until the bloody Quidditch World – !"

"Abigail Catherine Black-Lupin!" Oh, I haven't heard the full name for a while –actually, I've _never_ heard Dad use it (he was never the disciplinarian) and only heard Father use it once. "Language!" Father called from somewhere – probably his and Dad's room just down the hall. I huffed.

"You're one to talk!" I called back. I could just see him roll his eyes. Sam glared at me and closed the door loudly.

"Sam! Don't slam the doors!"

I couldn't help but laugh.

I guess Father made up for Dad never disciplining us – he was _constantly_ getting onto us for things that even Mrs. Weasley let us off for – granted, we were all too afraid of Mrs. Weasley to do much wrong-doing around her.

I went downstairs to the dining room to find Harry alone, rubbing his forehead.

"You okay, Harry?" I asked. He nodded.

"I'm fine, it's just – my scar hurt this morning when I woke up, and I had a strange dream last night." I sat up straighter and leaned closer – I loved to hear about people's crazy dreams. "It was – well, it's hard to explain."

"Try," I said, but just that minute, Sam and Riley entered the room, arguing about something as usual – it sounded like they were arguing about who was going to win the World Cup. They sat down across from us at the long table, and Harry and I listened in.

"It's got to be Bulgaria," Riley said, "they've got Krum."

"Well, Krun is only _one _good player, while Ireland has got seven. Plus, Ireland flattened Peru in the semi-finals."

"Too bad England didn't make it," I said disappointedly, jumping into their conversation.

"Boy, that was embarrassing," Riley agreed.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"We went down to Transylvania, three hundred and ninety to ten."

"Ugh," Harry said.

"Yeah, and Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland was slaughtered by Luxembourg," I said. "The United States was in the semi-finals against Bulgaria, I had hoped they would get in, but Bulgaria beat them – only by twenty points."

Dad and Father came in at that moment, holding hands and laughing at something.

I had never seen Dad as happy as he was when he was around Father, and I couldn't help but be reminded of a teenage couple every time I saw them together – as a matter of fact, they had both gotten themselves in shape and fixed up and now even _looked _like a young couple – well, younger than 34 at least.

"Hey, want to go over to the Burrow tonight for dinner?" Dad asked us as he and Father sat down. "Molly invited us over. Bill, Charlie, and Hermione are there as well."

"Oh, I love Bill and Charlie!" I exclaimed. "I haven't seen them in a long time – "

"Who are Bill and Charlie?" Harry asked.

"Ron's oldest brothers."

"Oh!" he said. "I knew that. I just forgot their names." I rose my eyebrows at him in disbelief. "What? I just forgot for a second!" he added indignantly. I smiled and shook my head.

"Anyway, Bill and Charlie are awesome! When you meet them, you can't help but wonder how Percy is a Weasley – or related to them in any way whatsoever – "

"Hey," Father said sternly. "Just because he's different from the rest of the family doesn't make him a bad person."

"I never said – "

"Yes, I know you never _said _that he was a bad person, but we all know you _implied _it. I was completely different from my family but I'm not a bad person – granted, they thought I was."

"Sorry," I muttered, looking at my hands.

"She's lived with Percy her whole life, though," Sam said suddenly, coming to my defense – what are older brothers for, right? "So it's not like she's judging somebody she doesn't know enough to judge. She knows him enough to know whether or not she _really _likes him." Father smiled at Sam.

"Good for you, Sam," he said. "One, you're standing up for what you believe, and two, you're standing up for your little sister – "

"I'm not little," I huffed, but Father continued.

"You made your point clear, Sam. I was just trying to get you all to see that Percy isn't necessarily a bad person just because he is different from the rest of the Weasleys."

"Well we knew _that_," I said. Both Father and Dad shot me a warning glare, and I said quickly, "Anyway, I don't know if Ireland or Bulgaria will win – they're _both_ good. Sam, you're right when you say that Ireland has seven good players while Bulgaria only has Krum – " I stopped talking as I saw Dad and Father trying to stifle their laughter. "What's so funny?" I asked, indignant.

"N-nothing," Dad said while Father burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer. "You wouldn't understand. It's – it's an inside joke." Riley, Sam, Harry, and I all exchange looks that clearly said, "now-they-have-inside-jokes?-Damn-this-is-going-to-be-even-_harder_-to-get-used-to."

"So, Harry, you never told me what your strange dream was about," I said suddenly after a moment of silence. "Remember? You said you woke up with your scar hurting and that you had a strange dream. You were going to tell me, but then Sam and Riley came in arguing and we both forgot." All eyes turned onto Harry, and he rubbed his forehead awkwardly.

"Well, er – "

"Your scar hurt when you woke up?" Father asked, suddenly sounding worried. I saw he and Dad exchange worried glances, and I narrowed my eyes.

"What?" I asked when nobody else did – it seemed I was the only one to notice it. Dad bit his bottom lip for a second before Father said,

"We've been hearing a lot of – er – strange rumors lately. If it hurts again while you're at school, go straight to Dumbledore. The Defense teacher this year came out of retirement, which means that Dumbledore _and _the new teacher have noticed it too."

"What are these _rumors_?" Riley asked. Father and Dad exchanged glances again, and I noticed Dad shake his head almost imperceptibly, his eyes wide. Father swallowed and blinked before turning back to Riley.

"We can't tell you – yet. At least, not very many of them." He glanced toward Dad again, who was staring somewhere above my head and didn't look at him. "But I _can _tell you one. Have you heard of Bertha Jorkins? The Ministry of Magic witch who has gone missing?" We all nodded. "She went missing in Albania – where Voldemort was rumored to be last. And she – she would have known something – something that you will all find out about fairly soon – was coming. And Death Eaters have been more – er –_vocal _lately." I noticed Harry's eyes widen – apparently, Father did too, for he looked at him and asked, "Alright, Harry?" Harry shook his head.

"The dream that I had last night. It – it – "

And so Harry launched into the story of his dream, and by the end, even Dad was staring at him.

"Harry. This – this isn't good."

"Well, it was just a dream, wasn't – ?"

"Sure, it was just a dream," Father interrupted. "But how likely is it that you would have a dream like that with all that's going on lately?"

"What's going on lately?" I asked – I was getting annoyed with all of this secrecy. Father and Dad exchanged yet another look and Dad said quickly,

"Don't worry about it guys. We'll take care of it."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Dinner at the Burrow passed without much affair. The talk was from Percy's new job to Bill having long hair and a fang earring to the World Cup, with the World Cup taking up most of the conversation. Nobody had any clue on the outcome of the World Cup. The Weasley's who were already out of school, Father, and Dad kept mentioning "the top secret event coming up after the World Cup" but refused to tell anybody what it was, no matter how much pestering ensued.

Before anybody knew it, we were up at the crack of dawn headed to the Quidditch World Cup. We had to walk what felt like miles to meet another family (the Patil family, who had two girls in Riley's year) and take the portkey, which turned out to be a empty candy wrapper. We had to walk what felt like _another _mile to get to our tents, which were right beside the Weasleys' tent – there were three tents altogether, two for the boys to split and one for the girls since there were only four girls while there were ten boys.

That night couldn't come fast enough for me.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"We'll bet thirty-six galleons, fifteen sickles, three knuts that Ireland wins, but Krum gets the snitch," Fred said quickly. "Oh, and we'll throw in a fake wand."

"How thick are you? How often does _that _happen?" I asked he and George. "It's not like I'm a Quidditch fanatic like you guys, but it's not like I don't understand it, and I think that's crazy." They just shrugged me off as Bagman took their bet, laughing and saying that it wasn't likely.

"It sounds highly likely, though," Sam said. "If you think about it."

"I still don't see it," I muttered. Sam shrugged.

"You know, if you win, he doesn't seem the type that will actually pay you back," I said as we headed up toward the Top Box seats that Father had gotten.

"He's a Ministry of Magic worker, of course he will," George said, waving me away.

"Yeah, Snape's a Hogwarts teacher – _he_ sure follows all the rules," I said sarcastically. I noticed Fred and George exchange slightly worried glances, but they shrugged it off again.

"But Snape is a greasy git," Fred said.

"Couldn't agree more," I heard Father murmur from behind us. We all spun on him, slightly surprised that, as an Auror now, he had said that, and he frowned down at us, looking confused. "What are you all staring at me for? I didn't say anything!" The twins and I turned around, having a hard time stifling our laughter so Dad, just in front us, wouldn't hear.

There were only about thirty seats in the top box lined three rows. Sam, Fred, George, Father, Dad and I sat in the second row while the rest of our group sat in the front row. Aside from us, there was only one other person in the box – a house-elf sitting second seat from the end of the back row.

The box started to slowly fill up. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, entered, along with other important looking people that greeted Father and that Percy greeted. The Bulgarian and Irish Ministers of Magic came, and, unfortunately, Malfoy.

"You have _got _to be kidding me," I muttered as I spun around, attempting to hide from him, but I knew it was a failed attempt. I half expected him to sit directly beside me, but Father must have understood that I didn't want to sit beside him and traded seats with me, so instead he sat directly behind me. Sam smirked at me, and I pointedly started a conversation with Father, who kept shooting glares at Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.

"Narcissa's my cousin," he whispered to me when I asked if he knew them. I nodded, suddenly remembering that.

"I know." He narrowed his eyes, as if wondering how I knew, and I said with a sly smile, "The library at Hogwarts has everything." Father smiled slightly at me and said,

"And Lucius – well, let's just say that it's partially his fault that I went to Azkaban without a trial." At my questioning look, he said, "A bit of money may have passed between him and some Ministry officials." I guess I had a new reason to hate the Malfoys.

Just then, the game started. Well, sort of. The Bulgarian Team Mascots (Veela) came onto the field. I noticed almost all of the wizards that I could see get a glazed look in their eyes, and Harry even stood up and leaned toward the edge of the box as they started to dance. Only Father and Dad seemed unphased – I attributed it to the fact that they liked men, not women. They were both laughing and shaking their heads as the Veela stopped dancing and the Irish mascots, Leprechauns, flew around the stadium.

"You know," I told Father as the first time-out was called so the Irish seeker got checked over for injuries after a Feint by Krum, "I've always thought Feinting was rude and should be fouls."

"It can cause severe injuries," Father agreed, nodding. "But I don't think it should be a foul. Our Seeker back when I was in school was amazing at Feints."

The Veela turned out to be more trouble than they were worth by the end of the game, and, shockingly, Malfoy didn't say anything to me at all – though I knew he was staring at the back of my head basically the whole game. To my surprise, Fred and George turned out to be right, and even though Krum caught the snitch, the Irish won. Sam laughed at my shocked expression.

"Ha, told you they would win that bet, Cat!" I huffed as I followed Father out of the Top Box, feeling Malfoy's eyes on me but refusing to look back.

That night was full of celebrating, and I must have fallen asleep in one of the boys' tents, for I woke up to find Father carrying me into the girls' tent. I woke again not long afterward – well, it didn't feel like much long afterward – to hear the Irish still celebrating.

"Girls!" I heard somebody yelling from outside our tent, and then Father burst in in a fury. "Girls, get up! Everybody up, now!" Hermione, Riley, and Ginny were already up, sitting on their beds and putting on jackets to try to keep slightly warm. Father grabbed my jacket, tossed it at me, and said quickly, "Death Eaters! Hurry, Abbey, get your jacket on, and stay with the others!"

I followed the others outside, where Percy, Bill, Charlie, Dad, Mr. Weasley, and Father were all running after a crowd of mostly hooded wizards who were shooting curses into tents and holding up four people – Muggles, I knew instantly – above them with their wands. People were screaming all over, and Fred grabbed Ginny's hand and he led us all to the woods nearby, where we were told to hide.

When we got stuck in the crowd, Riley grabbed my hand so we wouldn't get separated. Unfortunately, though Riley and I didn't get separated, we got separated from everybody else. We saw Ron, Harry, and Hermione go one way and Fred, George, Sam, and Ginny go the other. Riley tried to pull me toward Ron, Harry, and Hermione, but by the time a crowd of young witches and wizards passed, we could no longer see either group.

**A/N: I really didn't want to end it there, but I wanted to post this chapter soon.**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks HPJellicleCat, Duskfire1954, sweetteetwo, and Krelseybelle for the review!**

**So in the last chapter, Sam was supposed to be with Fred, George, and Ginny. I left out his name (whoop-sie!). But I fixed it now! (Big thanks to Duskfire1954 for pointing this out!)**

**I think that Malfoy may be a little OCC in this chapter. I tried my best to get him in character, but I don't know how good I did.**

Chapter 16

"Abbey..." Riley said quietly, gripping my hand tighter in hers with wide, frightened eyes. I could feel my circulation starting to cut off. "Abbey, what do we do?"

"Well, for one, don't just _stand here_," I said sharply as I started forward, only to be blocked by a crowd of young witches talking in a strange language running past. Finally, the way was clear enough for me to pull a still shocked Riley through, deeper into the woods.

"Where do you suppose everybody else got to?" I asked Riley quietly as we made our way through the thick woods. It was darker now, we could still hear screams and shouts and bangs coming from the campsites but were now too far away to see hardly anybody. She lit her wand, and I followed suit so we could see.

Suddenly, we heard the ruffles of some trees in a nearby bush and we both pulled out our wands and pointed it at the moving bush. After a moment, from behind the bush stepped a familiar white-blonde head.

"Don't point those bloody things at me!"

"Bugger off, Malfoy," I said through gritted teeth, turning to walk away.

"Oh, I'd watch my language if I were you, Miss Lupin." he said, smiling slyly. "Where are your fathers? Out their fighting them?" I considered correcting him on the fact that it was now "Black-Lupin" but decided not to bother. Instead, I merely growled and said,

"Where are _your_ parents? I suppose they're out there wearing masks, are they?"

"Well, if they were, I wouldn't tell you, would I?"

"You basically just did," I pointed out. He frowned, but asked,

"Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like to be spotted, would you?" Malfoy asked, his eyebrows rose.

"What's that supposed to mean, _Mr. Malfoy?_" I asked, imitating his formal tone from earlier in a voice quite unlike his.

"Don't you know?" he asked, leaning against a tree and lighting his wand so he could see. "Well well well, I would have expected you to know."

"If you're not going to tell us, shut up," Riley said. I noticed Malfoy consider telling us or not before he must have decided to.

"Well, _obviously _– "

But whatever he was going to tell us, he didn't get to, for suddenly we heard the rustle of leaves nearby. Malfoy shut his mouth, Riley and I both spun our wands onto the brush that was moving. Suddenly, out stepped a young wizard, out of Hogwarts but still young. He was pale, with straw-colored hair and many freckles. He took one look at the two wands pointed at him and smiled maliciously. For some reason, he looked highly familiar to me.

"Now put down those wands, girls. I'm not here to hurt you." Riley and I exchanged disbelieving looks and I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Malfoy slowly moving so he was further behind the tree that he was leaning against. "Now come on, girls, put those wands down." When we stared at him, he sighed. "Don't make me curse you – " But suddenly, I saw something flicker deep in the man's eyes, and his smile grew. "Are you the Black-Lupin girls?"

"No," I said quickly – too quickly, for I saw his eyes widen. "But we know them. They go to our school." The man frowned now, stared at us for a few minutes, and then his hand strayed to his pocket. Suddenly, though, he turned and practically ran away. We watched him until we could no longer see him.

"What did you lie to him for?" Malfoy asked after a moment, stepping up beside me from out of his safety place behind the tree.

"Never mind that – why did he want to know if we were Black-Lupins?" Riley asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"Why did he leave?" I asked suspiciously. "And who was he?"

None of us got our answers, though, for somebody that sounded a lot like the wizard who had just been talking to us shouted "_MORSMORDRE!_" from somewhere nearby.

High above us, a glittering green _something _appeared, shinning a sickly green light over us. The three of us could do nothing but stare at the skull formation with a serpent coming from its mouth, like a tongue, that we had all heard stories of but never truly seen.

Suddenly, the woods all around us erupted in screams. I knew why, and I knew that Riley and Malfoy did as well. None of us knew what to do, so we merely stood there, in shock, until we suddenly heard the familiar _pop_s of Apparation, and I registered what was happening. Malfoy, Riley, and I were suddenly surrounded by at least twenty Ministry of Magic wizards and witches and I saw, not too far off, another circle of about the same amount of people surrounding somebody else. Each wizard had their wands pointed at us.

"DUCK!" I heard somebody in the other circle yell, and I followed their instructions – I grabbed Riley and Malfoy's wrists and yanked them to the ground beside me so we were lying flat on the ground just in time, for every wizard yelled "_Stupefy!_" and jets of light shot out of each wand, rippling throughout the woods.

"Stop! Their just children!"

I looked up and saw a Ministry witch that I didn't know trying to get everybody to lower their wands. Nobody did, but when I saw Riley and Malfoy both getting to their feet slowly and shakily, I did as well.

"Out of the way, Eloise, said one of the ministry wizards nearby to the witch, and when I looked closer, I recognized him as Mr. Crouch. But he also looked familiar from somewhere else...

"Which of you did it?" he asked, pointing his wand from Malfoy, to me, to Riley and back again.

"Oh, yeah, that was me," I said sarcastically, staring at him as though he was stupid. Riley elbowed me and said quickly,

"We didn't do it! Abbey here's just being stupid."

"Don't lie! You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!" Mr. Crouch said, his eyes popping, as he pointed his wand at Riley.

"Barty, they're kids, they'd never be able to," the witch, Eloise, whispered to Mr. Crouch.

"Do not lie! Which of you did it!" Mr. Crouch said again.

"There was a man," Riley answered quickly, her eyes widening slightly as Mr. Crouch's wand flew to her. "He was talking to us. Threatened to curse us if we didn't put our wands down – he scared us, see, so we turned our wands on him."

"What'd he look like?" Eloise asked. I saw Mr. Crouch's eyes widening even further – if that was even possible. Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed the other circle of Ministry wizards breaking up, deciding that they hadn't caught who had done it, and a few of them come over toward us, eying Riley, Malfoy, and I with curiosity.

"Blond-ish hair, freckles," I answered.

"He was pale," Riley added.

"Probably in his early-thirties," Malfoy pitched in. Mr. Crouch paled now, and he looked like somebody else that I knew somehow when he did so.

"You're making it up!" he exclaimed. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Why would we – ?" I started, but I was cut off as I heard a familiar voice.

"No luck over here," it said. "Did you guys find him?"

Suddenly, I saw Father push his way into the circle of Ministry wizards, and his eyes widened when he saw Riley, Malfoy and I standing there. He stared from Riley to me to Malfoy and back again, his mouth open slightly, before he turned to Crouch.

"Put your wand down, Barty" he ordered. I heard his voice full of disdain, and I suddenly remembered why – _he _was the one who had sent Father to Azkaban. Mr. Malfoy had probably paid him to do it. "You know as well as I that children couldn't have conjured the mark. _Especially _mine. As for Malfoy here – "

"I didn't do it!" Malfoy said indignantly.

"He's telling the truth," Riley agreed.

"He was by us the whole time," I added, nodding my head in agreement.

"Did you see anybody?" Father asked, repeating Eloise's question from earlier. "Anybody at all?"

"We told them all – " Malfoy said, gesturing to the wizards and witches around us, " – that we saw a man, probably in his mid-thirties."

"He was talking to us just before the mark was sent up," Riley said.

"We're fairly certain that he did it," I put in. "The voice sounded the same." I saw Father exchange glances with the rest of the wizards and witches, all of which except Mr. Crouch seemed to believe us – he was still in rage, glaring at us, with his wand still pointed at Malfoy.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to take these three back to their tents, if nobody's got any objections – "

"I do!" Mr. Crouch said frantically, a few sparks flying out of his wand as he turned it to Father. "One of these three – " he turned his wand to Riley, to me, and then to Malfoy before he turned it back to Father, " – make the Dark Mark, and you just want them to get away with it?" Father sighed and turned to us.

"There's a simple way to solve this," he said. "Give me your wands."

"What – ?"

"Just give them to me." Slowly, we each pulled out our wands and handed them to Father. He took Riley's first, put the tip of his wand to the tip of Riley's, and said, "_Prior Incantanto._" A small bulb of light erupted from where the two wands met, and after a moment Father said, "_Deletrius._" The bulb disappeared. He threw Riley's wand to her, then repeated it with my wand and finally Malfoy's, with the same reaction both times. Riley, Malfoy and I exchanged perplexed glances, wondering what that was supposed to have done, before Father grabbed Riley's hand and pulled her away – she was the closest to him. Malfoy and I followed awkwardly.

Once we were far enough away so we could no longer see nor hear the other group, Father let go of Riley's hand and turned to us.

"Is everybody okay?" he asked. He sounded worried as he said it, and I noticed his face full of worry lines. I had never seen him so worried, and I wondered what was so bad that made him this worried.

"We're fine, Father," Riley answered.

"Are you sure? None of you are hurt?" I noticed that he even looked worried about Malfoy.

"We aren't hurt," I said. "None of us." Father looked us over quickly and then said,

"Okay." He turned to Malfoy. "Where's your tent at? Some of the Death Eaters are still out, and they've been cursing everybody they see. I may not be friends with your father, but I can't let you get hurt because of it."

"We're that way – " he pointed in some direction " – on the second field, I think."

"Right on our way." Without another word, Father turned and walked away, leaving us to follow him silently.

When we were out of the forest at last, a group frightened-looking wizards and witches engulfed us, asking Father all sorts of questions.

"What's been going on in there?"

"Who conjured it?"

"It's not – it's not _Him_?

"No, of course it's not Him!" Father exclaimed, exasperated. "We don't know who did it – it looks like they Disapparated. Now, if you'll excuse me, I fancy at least a _little_ sleep tonight." He quickly led us through the crowd, who kept shooting questions at us as we walked away, and we walked silently through the maze of tents. Half of them were ruined, half still standing. We hardly saw any witches or wizards anywhere – they must have all been inside their tents, too afraid to come out anymore.

Suddenly, Malfoy stopped in front of the tent we had passed on the way in that was made of silk and looked like a miniature palace with several live peacocks tethered to the entrance.

"This is me," he said quietly. I could see two shadows moving around inside as I started to snicker uncontrollably. Malfoy turned on me and asked, "What's so funny?"

"W-why are – are there so – so many pea-peacocks?" I managed to breathe out.

"My father has an – an unusual obsession," Malfoy replied. Now, Riley, and even Father, were now laughing with me, and Malfoy was glaring at each of us. "Shut up," he muttered. After a moment, we calmed down enough for Malfoy to stop glaring at us.

"I – I guess I'll see you guys at school," he said awkwardly.

"Bye," I muttered as Father and Riley started toward our tent.

When we were close enough, I could see our tents. It seemed that everybody was inside the larger of the boys' tents, and I noticed as we got closer that those in the tent were uncharacteristically quiet. When they heard us approaching, I saw Charlie poke his head out of the tent.

"Oh, you got the others. Thank Merlin."

"Is everybody else okay?"

"Yep. Harry, Ron, and Hermione just got back, the others were back a while ago. Remus and Father are still out looking for whoever conjured it." Father nodded, turned to Riley and I, and said,

"Go in and stay in. I'm going to go help." He Disapparated.

When Riley and I got into the tent, we saw Bill, Sam, Percy, Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all sitting in a circle either on the floor or on one of the two couches. As soon as he saw us, Sam stood up and rushed over to us, pulling us each into a tight hug silently.

Nobody said anything as Riley and I sat at the floor on either side of Sam. After what felt like hours of silence, broken only by the occasional yawn, cough, or sneeze – even Fred and George were silent – Bill said,

"I think we should all stay in this room for now. I don't want to let any of you out of my sight." He and Charlie conjured up several cots and everybody settled either onto one of the couches, cots, or bunks. As soon as the lights were turned out, I knew that most, if not all, of us weren't getting any more sleep that night.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks HPJellicleCat and Duskfire1954 for the reviews!**

**So, I can't decide – I plan on going through the rest of the series in this story, and am eventually going to add some romance. I just don't know who to have Abbey, Riley, and Sam get romantic with. So, check out my profile, and vote for who you think they should be with. **

Chapter 17

"This Rita Skeeter woman needs to bugger off," Sam complained, glaring at the article in the _Daily Prophet _that we had found when we got back home. "_Ministry blunders...culprits not apprehended...lax security...Dark wizards running unchecked...national disgrace...Rumers that several bodies were removed from the woods..._" He threw the paper onto the table and slouched into his armchair.

"There weren't any bodies," I said. "Riley and I were _there_. Nobody was killed. Just some stupid Death Eater wanting people to freak out."

"He's getting what he wants, then," Harry said.

"And that's not a good thing," Riley agreed.

"Well, what else do you expect from the Ministry?" Sam pointed out, still glaring at the paper. "They're corrupt and don't know how to do _anything _right."

"Too right – " Riley started, but she was cut off when Dad entered the room – he had gotten so fed up with us talking about the Ministry the day before that he had nearly yelled at us to stop, and we knew better than to push his buttons this morning.

"Where's Father?" Sam asked – it was strange to see one without the other nowadays. Dad rolled his eyes.

"Mad-Eye Moody's place. Moody said he heard an intruder – it was probably just a cat, really, but still – and he started jinxing everything within reach. His Muggle neighbors heard and called the police, who saw it."

"Moody's that nutter who used to be an Auror, right?" Sam asked. When Dad nodded, Sam made a face. "I've heard he's mad." I noticed Dad purposefully avoiding our gaze.

"Do you all have everything packed? We have to leave soon for King's Cross."

"Yep," Riley answered – Father and Dad had forced us all to pack the previous night. "How're we getting there this year, anyway?"

"The Ministry's sending one of those cars you guys rode in last year," Dad answered. "They're going to be here soon."

Soon enough, we were all piled into a magically stretched car on our way to King's Cross. It was a rather short ride, surprisingly, and I wondered if the car had a charm or something on it to make it arrive faster, or to make the ride seem shorter.

"Where's Father?" Riley asked as we wheeled our trunks through the station.

"He's going to meet us here," Dad answered, but I noticed that he looked rather antsy, as if he thought that Father might not show up in time.

Once on Platform nine and three-quarters, we found the Weasleys and Hermione not far off.

"Why hello there Cat," Fred said as I came up beside him and George.

"Morning," I replied.

"Need help getting your things on the train?" George asked. I looked up at him.

"No, I'm sure I can get it alone," I said sarcastically, shaking my head. "Of course I need help! How thick are you?" George rolled his eyes as he and Fred lifted my trunk up onto the train, almost dropping it before Bill and Charlie came over quickly and helped them.

"What have you got in there?" Fred asked. "Bricks?"

"Mhmm," I mumbled distractedly, absentmindedly watching Malfoy wave goodbye to his mother from the train.

"She couldn't leave her collection of bricks behind, could she?" Sam asked from behind us. I rolled my eyes, now watching who I guessed was Mrs. Diggory force Cedric, her son, to hug and kiss her before he got onto the train. "What are you looking at, Cat?" Sam asked, following my gaze.

"Hmm?" I asked. "Oh, nothing." I turned to Mrs. Weasley to hear her, Bill, and Charlie basically torturing Riley and Ron about that "_event-that-we-know-about-but-you-don't-and-we-can't-tell-you."_ Ron and Riley seemed to being going crazy from wanting to know that that event was, but Mrs. Weasley quickly shooed them away.

"Get onto the train before it leaves without you – again." Ron hugged Mrs. Weasely, Riley hugged Dad, and they along with Hermione and Harry quickly jumped onto the train and left to find a compartment. Sam, Fred, and George quickly followed, and I was the only one left.

"Well Abbey, have a great term," Bill said. He ruffled my hair as I turned to Dad.

"See you later, Abbey," he said, pulling me into a hug. "Behave, and keep Sam and the twins in line." I laughed and quickly hopped onto the train and picked up Phoenix just as there was a _pop_ and Father appeared, looking stressed, next to Dad.

"Sorry, Remus, I tried to leave quickly – I got held up – they wouldn't let me leave – it was a mess – " The train whistle blew and Dad, who looked irritated but relieved, said quickly,

"Tell your only child left waiting for you goodbye before she gives up on you as well." Father asked quickly,

"What? They 'gave up on me?'" Dad rolled his eyes.

"No! They just left before you go here – you're fault, really." The train whistle blew again. "You should tell Abbey bye before the train leaves, you know." Father turned to me and, though he was on the ground and I was on the train, gave me a quick and awkward hug.

"See you soon, Abbey," he said. "Have a great term."

"Bye," I said just as the train started to move. I waved to Father, Dad, Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Charlie until the train rounded a corner and they vanished form sight.

I quickly found David, Sean, Troy, Addison, and Adelaide in a compartment about halfway down the train discussing, of course, the Quidditch World Cup.

"Hey, we were starting to worry that you'd missed the train," Sean said as I slid into the seat beside David, closing the door behind me.

"Nope, just saying bye. It'll be a while before I see my parents again – unlike last year, when I saw Dad all the time." I paused. "Hey, did anybody's parents actually tell them what's happening at Hogwarts this year? Mine kept saying that something great was going to happen and teasing us about how they knew something that we didn't, but they refused to tell us what it was."

"No idea," David said, shaking his head. "Father said that it was something so great that he wished he were still at school, but I think that Mother didn't even know what it was. She's a Muggleborn so she didn't know much about that type of thing."

"Oliver knew what it was," Addison said. "He tried to tell us."

"But Mother or Father caught him every time and got mad at him every time," Adelaide finished.

"My father something about it not having happened for a long time," Sean said.

"I know that it has something to do with them changing the rules and 'entering,'" I said, my eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"What are you guys talking about?" Troy asked bewildered. "You all _know _that I'm a Muggleborn – I don't know_ anything_ about _any_ of this!" We quickly explained to him everything that all of us had been told, but we still had no headway about _what, _exactly, was going to happen at Hogwarts that year.

"Who all went to the Quidditch World Cup?" Troy said suddenly. I noticed a hint of jealousy in his voice – he obviously didn't get to go.

"It was amazing!" Sean exclaimed before he and David launched into the complete story of the World Cup. Addison and Adelaide shook their heads and left to go find Demelza and Emily – even though their brother (Oliver Wood) was obsessed with Quidditch, they could only stand so much Quidditch talk. I half listened until I fell asleep with my head resting on David's shoulder.

I awoke a while later to hear David and Sean still discussing the Quidditch World Cup, this time the night afterward, only quieter for fear of waking me up. I rubbed my eyes groggily and sat up.

"Are we almost there?" I asked, looking out the window. It was raining hard so it was near impossible to tell how dark it really was outside.

"Nah, you've only been asleep for a little over an hour or two," Sean said. "Say, what happened to you during the night after the World Cup?"

"You_ really _wanna know?" When he, David, and Troy nodded curiously, I sighed and quickly told them what had happened during the night after the World Cup.

"They seriously thought that _you _had conjured the Dark Mark?" Sean asked, shocked. I nodded.

"They're insane!" David exclaimed. "I mean, look at who your fathers are! Do they _honestly _think that you or Riley would conjure it? I guess I can understand why they think that _Malfoy _would – as a matter of fact, I bet he _did _do it – "

"But he was with us the whole time," I pointed out. "It couldn't have been him. I bet it was that creepy guy who was talking to us – Malfoy never _did _tell us why he thought that that man was after us," I said, suddenly realizing it. "Damn, I wanted to know. I'll have to blackmail it out of him." David and Sean laughed just as the door to the compartment slide open and Addison and Adelaide poked their heads in.

"Hey guys," Addison said. "You should get your robes on."

"We're almost there," Adelaide added before the two of them left. As soon as they were gone, I grabbed my robes and left to get changed.

Once I was changed, I was walking back to our compartment when I looked into one compartment, looking for Sam, Fred, and George, when I ran right into somebody. I looked up to apologize, hoping to God that it wasn't a Slytherin, when I saw none other than – just my luck – Malfoy – why was it always _Malfoy _that I ran into?

"Better watch out, Abbey," he said. I was too shocked by him calling me "Abbey" and not "Lupin" to say anything. "You're lucky it was me and not some crazy seventh year Slytherin."

"Huh?" I muttered, still stunned – why was he suddenly being civil to me? Because of what had happened at the World Cup?

"Malfoy, what are you – ?" I heard Crabbe say as he came up behind Malfoy, who suddenly interrupted him by saying,

"Watch where you're going, Lupin!" When Crabbe was looking, Malfoy winked at me, smiling slightly – probably smiling at my bewildered expression – before saying quickly, "Say, Lupin, will you go out with – ?"

"No, Malfoy. You would think that even _you _would get the point by now." I turned quickly and left before anything more could be said, but I could have sworn that I saw Malfoy wink at me again before I turned away and he was out of my sight.

Once back in my compartment, I pondered what had just happened. Malfoy had been civil to me when his friends weren't around, but then when Crabbe showed up, he was rude again but had winked at me, as though we were sharing an inside joke.

_Were we sharing an inside joke_?

Maybe he thought that he had to keep up his image as "bad-ass Slytherin" but thought that, after we had shared an experience at the World Cup, that he should at least _try _being civil to me. I wondered if he was doing the same to Riley.

The rest of the ride, I was distracted, thinking about Malfoy. What was he playing at? The more I thought about it, the more confused I became. I started to guess that he was just doing it to try to convince me to date him. If that was so, I swore that I would never, _ever_ date him.

"Abbey? You coming?"

I jerked out of my blank stare to see David, Sean, and Troy about to leave the compartment. The train had stopped without me realizing.

"Oh," I said, standing up quickly. "Sorry, I was distracted."

"You okay, Abs?" David asked, sounding worried, his eyebrows furrowed.

"You seem – er – "

" – distracted," Troy finished for Sean, who nodded in agreement.

I nodded quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

When we reached the castle, the sorting and dinner went by unusually fast. During the sorting, all I could think about was Malfoy, but during dinner, I became distracted and forgot all about Malfoy, although I could feel him staring at me throughout the whole time.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

"What?" I asked, confused. I looked at Fred and George, who were sitting just a little down the table. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak. "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"

But what was happening at Hogwarts, we didn't find out, for at that moment, the doors of the Great Hall burst open and there was a loud rumble of thunder. In the doorway stood a man who was leaning on a staff and wearing a black traveling clock. Everybody in the Great Hall turned to watch him. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table. As he limped toward Dumbledore, there was a flash of lightning, and the man's face was illuminated.

His face looked as though every inch of skin seemed to be scarred, his mouth looked like just another scar, and a large portion of his nose was missing. One of his eyes were small, dark, beady – much like Wormtail's – while th other was large, very round, and blue. The blue eye didn't blink, and was moving ceaselessly – rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all we could see was whiteness.

It took me a moment, but I soon recognized him from a picture of the Order of the Phoenix – a group of people who got together during the war to fight Dumbledore. He was Mad-Eye Moody. No wonder Dad wouldn't look me in the eye when we said that Moody was a nutter – he was our new Professor.

There was no clapping when Dumbledore announced that he was the new DADA teacher. I wasn't surprised – Moody looked very, very creepy. I think even the Slytherins would prefer Dad, despite the fact that he's a werewolf. I noticed everybody staring at him in awe.

Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly, but everybody continued to stare, transfixed, at Moody. "As I was saying," he said, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century."

"Yes, we've all realized this, just tell us what it is!" Sean muttered.

"It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

I felt my eyes widen as Fred yelled exactly what I was thinking,

"You're JOKING!" Nearly everyone laughed, and even Dumbledore chuckled.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar." McGonagall cleared her throat, and Dumbledore quickly went back to talking about the Triwizard Tournament.

Dumbledore went on to explain exactly what the Triwizard Tournament was. But I already knew. I was just shocked that they had brought it back – the death toll was extremely high. I heard Fred – as well as several others at other House tables as well as at ours – say that he was going to go for it, but for some reason, I had a feeling that it wasn't going to work. I already knew that I wasn't going to even bother going for it.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration.

Fred and George were suddenly furious and mutinous, and I heard several noises of outrage.

"They can't do that!" said George furiously. He and Fred hadn't joined the crowd moving toward the door after Dumbledore dismissed us, but were glaring at Dumbledore. "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"

"They're not stopping me entering," said Fred stubbornly, also scowling at the top table. "The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!" I shrugged as I grabbed each of their arms and pulled them along toward the door. They followed reluctantly.

"It's not that great. And what are the chances that you'd get picked, anyway? Not," I added quickly at their insulted faces, "not that you aren't great, but it'd probably be some Ravenclaw seventh year that got picked."

"I'm still going to try."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks Sunset on Heartache, HPJellicleCat, Duskfire1954, and Krelseybelle for the reviews!**

**My poll is still up! – actually, I've written a completely different poll because I've dropped Sam – I've decided who he'll be with, and you'll see soon – and many of choices with Riley and Abbey as well. I'm fairly certain who I want Riley with. Abbey, on the other hand – well, let's just say I'm having issues with her.**

**Question (I can never tell) – does Moody seem in character to you? He seemed less...crazy? I don't know if that's the word, but he seems less crazy to me.**

Chapter 18

"Hey look – we have Moody this afternoon!"

"_Already_?"

"Yep! I bet he's a good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher – you know, since he used to be an Auror and all," Sean said, looking down the time-table. I shrugged mutely, watching Fred and George whispering to each other. I wondered what it was about – usually Sam and Lee were in on it, too, but it was obvious that they didn't even want those two to know, for I saw them watching Sam, who was talking to Ron, out of the corners of their eyes.

Our first class of the day was double potions with the Slytherins – of course. We were put into pairs. I got somewhat lucky and was paired with Astoria Greengrass – she wasn't as bad as the rest of them and was extremely quiet. David, on the other hand, got stuck with Bryson Bradley, Sean with Kevin Grant, and Troy with Marshal Duke. Bryson Bradley was like the Draco Malfoy of our class – proud, pureblood, cocky, with his gang of friends – Kevin Grant and Marshal Duke – that he was the "leader" of and the large group of girls that swooned after him (Romilda Vane had once called him "sexy" and said that he had "a body to die for." Personally, I thought she was crazy – in my opinion, even _Malfoy _was better looking than Bradley.).

We were stuck making Shrinking Solutions. I'm not _abysmal _at potions – not like David – but let's just say that it isn't my best subject. Astoria Greengrass was another story.

"You have to cut them in exactly equal pieces!" she snarled at me as I cut up the daisy roots. I clenched my fist around the knife – it was nearing the full moon, and I wasn't in the mood to deal with Slytherins telling me what to do and how to do it. I said nothing back.

"Now make sure you stir _exactly_ five times counter-clockwise and _exactly _ten times clockwise and then repeat it until it's the dark green that it needs to be."

"I _know_, okay?" I snapped. "It's not like it's that hard that I can't follow instructions when I want to! Now stop pestering me or I'll purposely mess it up!"

"Miss Lupin!" Snape sneered from the other side of the room over the chorus of voices arguing with their partner, not even looking up from Addison and her partner's orange, bubbling potion.

"It's Black-Lupin, Professor," I corrected loudly, interrupting his next sentence.

"Miss _Black_-Lupin," he snarled, still not looking up, "five points from Gryffindor for your rudeness. Learn to respect your peers or it'll be more." I sighed and made a face at his back – Bradley was about to tell on me when David – whether on purpose to distract him or on accident – dropped a rat spleen into the potion, distracting Bradley.

"I already put one of the spleens in, you _idiot!_" he yelled over the commotion. Nearly everybody shut up to watch him exploding on David, who stood, not knowing what to do, while Snape called him out and took yet _another _five points from Gryffindor for David ruining the potion.

"Just a drop," Greengrass said quietly, probably from fear that I would explode on her again, as I squeezed some leech juice into the potion. I bit back the smart-Alec remark I had on the tip of my tongue.

"Is that enough?" I asked her somewhat rudely after I had dropped three small drops into the potion.

"I think just a few drops more will be enough," she replied even quieter. I followed her directions and dropped three more drops into it and started to stir it clockwise.

To Greengrass's horror, the potion started to turn steadily orange instead of bright acid green, and I stared in shock at the swirling orange potion in front of me – had Greengrass _ever _messed up a potion? Then again, it was probably _my _fault. At least, Snape would think it was.

"What have you done now?" he snarled as he looked deep into our potion. I knew he was addressing me without him having to tell me he was.

"Nothing!" I exclaimed quickly. "I only put in a dash of leech juice in it, and this happened!"

"Another five points from Gryffindor for sabotaging your potion, Miss _Black_-Lupin."

"For what?" I yelled. "I didn't do anything!"

"Another five for yelling at me. Now learn some _respect_."

I was in a foul mood by the time class was over. I slouched out of the room followed by Sean, Troy, and David. They hadn't had such a great time, either.

As we entered the Entrance Hall, I heard a familiar voice behind me calling, "Weasley! Hey, Weasley!" I turned around and saw Riley, Ron, Hermine, and Harry right behind me. I guessed that Malfoy – whom I hadn't seen since the incident on the train – had only meant for Harry, Ron, Riley, and Hermione to stay, but I stayed anyway.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley," Malfoy said loudly, brandishing a copy of the paper. I glared at him as Crabbe and Goyle joined him. "Listen to this. _FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC_. _It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office._

"Imagine that, they can't even get his name right!" Malfoy laughed. I noticed everybody in the Entrance Hall listening in now.

"_Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene."_

"And there's a picture, too, Weasley!" Malfoy jeered just as I saw Fred, George, and Sam joining the group of people listening in. Malfoy walked forward, right next to me, and shoved the paper under Ron's nose. "A picture of your parents outside their house - if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"

"Get stuffed, Malfoy," I snapped while Harry grabbed Ron's shoulder and pulled him ahead into the Great Hall. Sam, Riley and I were shaking with rage. If I had ever thought that Malfoy might be finally growing up, I was sure wrong.

"Oh yeah," Malfoy smirked, turning toward Riley and I. I noticed he purposely avoided my gaze. "You guys used to live with them, didn't you? So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?" I was so furious that I couldn't talk, but Harry had it covered.

"You know your mother, Malfoy?" he asked. I noticed that both he and Hermione had all grabbed Ron to keep him from killing Malfoy then and there. Riley, on the other hand, looked as furious as I felt. She was shaking from head to toe, her fists clenched. I was shaking, as well, only I had my wand clenched in one fist and was biting my bottom lip to keep from shouting at him.

"That expression she's got, like she's got a dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?" Malfoy turned pink and looked murderous as well.

"Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter."

"Keep your fat mouth shut, then." Harry turned away, but not before Malfoy could pull out his wand and shot a loud spell that missed Harry by inches. Some people screamed, but before I could even lift my wand up to curse Malfoy back, I saw Moody running down the stairs toward us. There was a second _BANG _and exactly where Malfoy had been, merely a few feet away from me, a white ferret appeared.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!" he yelled. Everybody in the Entrance Hall – myself included – could only stare at the white ferret as Moody limped up to Harry.

"Did he get you?"

"No, missed."

"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted, causing me to jump.

"Leave – what?"

"Not you – him!" Moody jerked his thumb back at Crabbe, who had bent down to pick up the ferret. Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, which suddenly took off, streaking toward the dungeons.

"I don't think so!" Moody roared, pointing his wand at the ferret again - it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more."I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," he growled as he bounced the terrified ferret higher and higher into the air.

"Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do!" The ferret bounced higher into the air – I was certain that by now, everybody had gotten out of their shock and were at least smiling – I could hear several snorts and sniggers. "Never - do - that - again -"

"Professor Moody!" McGonagall's voice yelled suddenly, coming down the staircase toward us quickly. I was now trying hard not to laugh. "What are you doing?"

"Teaching." I snorted, but let it off as a sneeze when McGonagall, who was right next to me, shot me a glare.

"Teach – Moody, is that a student?"

"Yep."

"No!" McGonagall pulled out her wand. With a loud snapping noise, Malfoy reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blond hair all over his now shinning pink face. He got to his feet, wincing and glaring at Moody. I noticed his eyes flicker over toward me – my face red, first with rage, now with silent laughter – and he suddenly became even redder than before.

Before we had to witness any lectures by Professor McGonagall – I didn't fancy listening to one of them right now – Troy, David, Sean and I quickly left for the Great Hall. Once we were safely seated at the Gryffindor table and McGonagall was far away, we burst out laughing, unable to stop until we had to head to Charms and then DADA after lunch. We sat toward the middle – not in the back so we missed it or toward the front if he was crazy.

"This year, you all will learn about Dark creatures and a bit of Dark curses. You aren't supposed to learn these Dark curses until your fourth year, but I believe, and Dumbledore agrees, what with what happened at the World Cup, you need them this year. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he yelled suddenly, causing us all to jump.

Moody paused. I wondered if that was all he was going to say before he suddenly barked, "Put your books, quills, everything away. You'll only need your wands." T

here was the sound of scuffling as everybody did so.

"Stand up."

We did so again, and with the swish of his wand, Moody pushed the desks to the sides of the rooms, piled on top of each other, with our things stuffed underneath of them.

"Get a partner."

I got with David quickly, as he was the closest to me.

"Now, repeat after me – _impedimenta!_" We chanted after him, but I knew this jinx already – it was a _fourth _year jinx, and I wondered why we were learning it in only second year.

"Now, I want one partner to point their wand at the other and try to jinx them. Don't worry – it won't hurt you physically. Depending on how well you cast it, it will either freeze, trip or knock back, or, if it's very powerful, bind the target." When he stopped talking and nobody did anything, he barked, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get going."

"I get jinx a girl!" David exclaimed as everybody else started. I noticed, while he was complaining, that not much was happening – every now and then somebody would get frozen, or close to frozen, but that was basically it.

"Oh, man up!" I yelled over the shouts of spells. "Just jinx me, or I'll jinx you!"

"Do it then!" I pointed my wand at David and shouted,

"_Impedimenta!_" He instantly was knocked backward off his feet, almost slamming into the wall. Everybody stopped to stare at me while Moody limped up to me.

"Well, well, look here, this young lady's done it! That was mighty powerful for a first time, Miss – ?"

"Black-Lupin, sir," I replied quickly. I noticed a flicker of recognition deep in his real eye – his fake one, though looking at me, showed no emotion.

"Miss Black-Lupin, eh? A Black _and _a Lupin? I knew your fathers. Quite an extraordinary pair, they are. You – and, from what I've seen of him, you're older brother, for that matter – are going to be very powerful indeed. Already are." I could feel everybody's eyes on me as he said this, and I started to turn slightly pink

By the end of the class, I had gotten the spell so easily that I could almost bind David. He, Sean, and Troy hadn't done so well with the charm – Troy hadn't done anything, Sean had only frozen Troy, and David had managed to make me almost fall backwards, but nothing more.

"You're too good at Defense Against the Dark Arts," David said as we entered the Great Hall after class. I shrugged as Malfoy caught my eye out of the corner of his. And, to my surprise, he _winked_ at me _again_. He was alone, standing by the doors to the Great Hall, and, while I was looking at him, motioned for me to come see him. I wasn't sure if I wanted to, but I decided that it wouldn't do any harm.

"I'll catch up with you in a moment," I said to David, Sean, and Troy, who all looked confused. "I – I forgot my Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook in the room." They went ahead without me, and I saw Malfoy dart into a deserted corridor. I quickly followed him.

I didn't see him anywhere, but when I was about to turn around and assume that he hadn't been talking to me, I spun on my heels to find myself face-to-face, only inches away, from his pale face. I jumped backward at least several inches.

"What do you want?" I asked when he said nothing.

"I have a question for you." I sighed.

"If you're going to ask me out again, you should already know – "

"I know you're going to say no," he said, quickly interrupting me. "I wasn't going to ask you out again anyway."

"So what do you want?" After a long pause, Malfoy asked quietly,

"You don't understand, do you?"

"Huh?" He rolled his eyes and said,

"You don't understand what I've been doing, do you?"

"What have you been doing?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed in thought. What was he talking about?

"Why I've been _winking _at you, and more civil to you than usual!" he exclaimed, running his fingers through his slick-backed hair, causing a few chunks to fall in front of his face. I stared at him – I never thought that I'd see Malfoy like this. "When you got all upset at lunch when I insulted Weasley's mom – yeah, yeah, I know, she basically raised you and is the closest thing to a mom that you have – but it made me realize that you don't understand."

I blinked and resumed my blank stare.

"I want to be _friends _with you, Abbey. _Not _romantic, _not enemies_ – _friends._"

And then I got it – he wanted to be friends, but he didn't want everybody else to know. Whether it was because I kept denying him when he asked me out and he didn't want to loose his dignity or because he didn't want people to know that a _Slytherin _was friendly with a _Gryffindor_ and didn't want to be that Slytherin, I don't know. Either way, it pissed me off – hey, it was near the full moon.

"Well, I don't want to be friends with you if it's going to be like _this_!" I yelled, talking several steps backward.

Malfoy looked as if I had just slapped him.

"Not if you don't want people to know and you want to keep it between us because we're in different _houses_, or _years_, or because you don't want to lower your dignity because I won't date you but will be friends with you!" I shook my head, taking more steps backward. "No. Maybe, if it was different, I wouldn't mind being friends, or giving it a chance, but I _don't _want to be friends if it's going to be like this."

Without taking one more look at Malfoy's shocked face, I turned and stormed out of the corridor.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks WingedHybrid and BlackScarredArrow for the reviews!**

**I still need opinions on pairings. I'm fairly certain I know what I'm going to do, but I still have other choices on the poll. So either vote or tell me what you think in a review so I know because I need to choose by the next few chapters and I'm still torn between the two! Thanks!**

Chapter 19

The next couple of weeks drug on dramatically slow. It was easy for basically the whole school to notice that Malfoy and I weren't talking – or, rather, that he had stopped asking me out and that I had started to glare death glares at him, well, more than usually that is. For quite a long time, I could swear that Malfoy and I were _all _that anybody talked about (people were still talking about it when the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students arrived at Hogwarts in October).

I tried not to let the Malfoy thing bother me, but, let's be honest – it did. A lot. I would have possibly considered trying to be his friend if he would have chased after me when I left because I once had heard a seventh year girl telling her crying friend "If he doesn't chase after you, he isn't worth it." But he didn't chase me, so I took this unnamed seventh years' advice and decided that he wasn't worth it.

But every time I saw him at meals or passed him in the corridors, I felt a pang of – well, of something. I didn't know quite what it was – guilt, maybe? Or pity? For when I first looked him in the eye at dinner three days after the incident, he looked upset and maybe, even, _hurt_. I certainly had never seen him look like _that_before.

"Abbey! _Abbey!_"

I jumped and saw David, Sean, Troy, and, to my surprise, Hermione, who was holding a strange box, staring at me at the breakfast table on October 30th – the day the other students entering the Trwizard Tournament were arriving. I looked at each face and finally, after a moment of awkward silence, I asked,

"What?"

"I was _asking_," Hermione said irritably, "if you guys know that Hogwarts uses a cruel method of slave-labor for basically _everything_?" I blinked, unphased.

"I thought that house-elves did it," I said. David nodded in my direction.

"Me too," he replied, his eyebrows furrowed.

"_They do!_" Hermione said. "But they don't get _paid_, they don't get holidays, sick-leave, or pensions!" We continued to stare at her blankly.

"But they don't _want_ those things, do they?" I pointed out. "They're _happy_. Besides, it's better for them to be at Hogwarts than with families that might abuse them, like the _Malfoys_ did to Dobby." They all noticed the way I spit out _Malfoys_.

"Okay, what the hall happened between you and Malfoy?" David asked irritably, but I shrugged him off and turned back toward Hermione.

"Well," Hermione said, ignoring my predication and David's question, "they don't, when everybody should get paid for their work." She took the lid off of the box and picked up a blue badge with four letters written on it: S.P.E.W.

"What's 'spew'?" Sean asked, taking the badge from her and looking at it. "I've never heard of it."

"Not _spew_," Hermione said impatiently. "It's S-P-E-W. It stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. And of course you haven't heard of it, I just made it to stand up for house-elves, since they can't stand up for themselves. Our short-term aims are to secure fair wages and working conditions – " Sean pretended to yawn, bored, and Hermione shot him a glare but otherwise ignored him " – while our long-term aims are changing the law bout non-wand use and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"How do you plan to do this?" I asked skeptically.

"Well, first we recruit members. I was thinking two Sickles to join for the badges – "

"Hermione," I said quickly, "not to be rude, but nobody's going to pay two Sickles to join something that they probably don't believe. Open your eyes – house elves _like _their jobs. I know, I know – it's only because they don't know any different, but they would be _miserable_ if it all suddenly changed. Nobody likes change." Hermione, who seemed even more exasperated at my attitude, huffed and stormed out of the Great Hall.

I heard snickering behind me and turned to see Fred and George nearby watching us.

"We told her the same thing," Fred laughed. "She just won't get it. I guess it's because she's a Muggleborn."

"Hey!" Troy exclaimed. "_I'm _a Muggleborn, you know!"

"I didn't mean it that way," Fred said quickly. "I'm just saying – you know – oh, never mind." He and George quickly went back to their previous conversation.

"I know it's a bummer. But I'm telling you," I heard George say quietly. "He can't avoid us forever."

"I _know_," Fred agreed. "But he's going to try."

"Who's avoiding you?" I asked. They turned to me, annoyed.

"Wish _you_ would," Fred said, sounding, to me, as though he had been through this before.

"What's a bummer?"

"Having somebody like you as basically a sister," George agreed. They quickly got up and left the table and Ron, who was walking by at that moment, muttered to me as he passed,

"They said basically the same thing to me when I asked."

Before long, we were headed down to the front of the castle, where the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would be arriving.

"How do you think they're coming?" Troy asked after a moment. I shrugged, but said nothing, as I heard the same question passing up and down the line of students.

"Aha!" Dumbledore called out suddenly. "Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!" I looked back and saw him looking somewhere over the forest. I followed his line of vision and, just as somebody yelled, "_There!_" I saw it. What _it _was exactly, I didn't know, for all I could see was a large black dot moving across the deep blue sky. It grew larger every second we watched.

"It's a dragon!" yelled a first-year.

"Don't be stupid – it's a flying house!" Dennis Creevey, another first year, shouted.

"Because _that's _not stupid," Sean muttered to us under his breath. But he was soon eating his words, for as it came closer, we saw that the black dot was really a gigantic horse-drawn carriage pulled by a dozen humongous horses, which was much closer to Dennis' guess.

"Ha, smooth, Sean!" David laughed. Sean glared at him but quickly went back to watching the carriage land just in front of us. We watched as the largest woman we had ever seen in our life – close, if not larger than Hagird – came out from the carriage and Dumbledore introduced her as Madam Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons. (Sean, David and I had to cover our snorts when she called Dumbledore "Dumbly-dorr.") She and her students, about a dozen of them, went inside to wait for the Durmstrang students – it was cold, and they weren't wearing very thick cloaks.

Not long after they were inside, we all heard a loud, strange, eerie sound from what sounded like the direction of the lake. After a long moment, what we could make out as a mast of a huge ship emerged from the depths of the lake. We soon heard the splash of an anchor being thrown into the water and the thud of a plank hitting the bank. We could see the silhouettes of students getting off of the huge boat. I noticed that they were all rather thick, like Crabbe and Goyle, or Kevin Grant and Marshal Duke, but I soon realized that it was only because of their thick, fur cloaks.

Professor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Durmstrang, was introduced to us just as Madam Maxime had been – at least _he _could pronounce "Dumbledore." But I wasn't listening, for I saw one of the burly boys walk past. He looked oddly familiar...

"It's Krum!"

The whisper was spread up and down the row of students. Troy was the one to whisper it in my ear, and I stared at Krum's back as he walked away.

"He's still in school?" Sean asked. I shrugged.

"I had no idea," David said as the Hogwarts students filed into the school. The Beauxbatons students sat at the Ravenclaw table and Durmstrang students sat at the Slytherin table – I saw Malfoy talking to Krum smugly before his eyes met my glare and he fell silent and went to staring at his empty plate. When I turned back forward, David, who was still watching Malfoy, said that he saw Krum look at me and was pretty sure they were talking about me. I didn't really care if they were or weren't, I just wanted Malfoy to stop being such a bullying git.

"I asked you earlier, but you never answered," David said quickly. "What the hell happened between you and Malfoy?"

"Nothing," I said quickly. David looked about ready to pressure it when the feast started, and he was too distracted by one of the girls from Beauxbatons – who I knew instantly had to be at least _part _Veela – sitting at the Ravenclaw table. He was basically drooling by the time I kicked his leg and muttered,

"You're mouth's open." He shut it quickly, but continued to stare. "You're staring." He quickly looked down at his plate, blushing. Sean laughed, but I noticed that he, too, was watching the _too _beautiful girl talking to her friends.

To my surprise, Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch showed up and ended up being judges for the tournament. They were both equally bad – Bagman was too excitedabout danger and too out of it while Crouch was too into rules. I guess, in a way, they evened each other out.

Dumbledore said a few quick words about the Goblet of Fire – which was the way that the champions were chosen – and then sent us off to bed. I noticed Karkaroff staring at Harry and felt instantly bad for Harry – I knew that Karkaroff had been a Death Eater but had gotten out of Azkaban by handing over other Death Eaters.

"This is _shit_!" Sam cursed from behind me as I left. Riley, who was a few paces in front of us, and I hung back to talk to him.

"What's shit?" I asked curiously. Riley looked just as confused as me.

"You both should know," Sam said irritably. "I'm seventeen on the thirteenth! That's a mere _two weeks _from tomorrow! I asked McGonagall if I was old enough, since I'll be seventeen by the time the first task comes, but she said no! I bet if I asked Dumbledore he would say yes."

"I doubt it," Riley said. "I mean, those _are _the rules."

"Come on, don't tell me that you don't think it would be cool to enter," Sam said to her. She shrugged.

"Sure, it'd be cool to enter. Sure, it'd be amazing to win a thousand galleons. But to risk your life trying? Father's well on his way to being the Head Auror, we don't need any more money – or fame, for that matter. Didn't we have enough of that last year to last a lifetime?"

"Riley's right, Sam," I said, ignoring his glare in my direction. "But if you want to try that bad, ask Dumbledore about it. I know that he'll probably say no, because you're not, technically, seventeen yet, but still, maybe he'll make an exception, just this once." Sam stopped walking, and Riley and I followed suit, turning around to look at Sam. "What?" I asked.

"I'm going to ask him," he said quickly. "Come on." He turned around and headed quickly back toward the Great Hall, fighting the crowd on his way. Riley and I exchanged a bewildered glance, wondering why on earth he would want us to go with him, before we quickly shoved our way through the crowd.

"My father doesn't meed to work, we have so much money," I heard a very familiar voice gloating as I walked by, "but he is very powerful in the Ministry of Magic and donates quite a lot of money to St. Mungo's." I tried my hardest not to look back at Malfoy, who was bragging to Krum as they left the Great Hall, as he kept talking. "We were in the Top Box seats because of it at the World Cup. You fly brilliantly, you know – granted, I couldn't pay _too_ much attention to the game with Abbey sitting right in front of me..." I heard Riley huff behind me but pretended as though I didn't hear her_ – _orMalfoy, for that matter.

By the time we caught up with Sam, he was in the nearly empty Great Hall. He stopped suddenly in front of us – so suddenly I ran right into him, and Riley right into me. I looked around him and saw what had made him stop – Professor Moody was the only teacher still in the Great Hall. Despite the fact that he wasn't facing us, he grumbled as we approached,

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr and Misses Black-Lupin?"

"We need to speak to Professor Dumbledore, sir," Sam said quickly. Moody turned to us and fixed his real eye on Sam while his other swiveled around, taking in the room at large, in its socket.

"About what?"

"Personal issues, sir," Riley answered quickly. Moody fixed both of his eyes on her.

"You know," he said gruffly, "with a group of children like you three, your fathers must be proud."

"Huh?" I asked dumbly.

"Well, your brother here threw off the Imperius Curse the first try, while it only took your sister twice to throw it off – even faster than Mr Potter himself. And you yourself performed almost perfectly on every spell we've learned so far. Too bad you're too young to enter the tournament, Mr Lupin – you would make for fair competition for any champion." He paused. "You know where Dumbledore's office is, I presume?" Sam nodded quickly. "The password's Fizzing Whizbees." Sam nodded before taking off out the door, Riley and I following.

When we reached the seventh floor and stood in front of a stone gargoyle, Sam said, "Fizzing Whizbees" and the gargoyle jumped aside, leaving us to jump onto the moving staircase behind it. At the door at the top, Sam knocked thrice, and Dumbledore's calm voice called, "Enter." Riley and I followed slowly, shutting the door behind us quietly.

Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk reading papers, as though expecting us. When he glanced up at us, he waved his wand and three chairs appeared out of nowhere in front of his desk. When Sam sat down, Riley and I followed suit – I sat between the two, staring blankly up at Dumbledore as he started speaking.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of having you three in my office?"

"Well, sir," Sam said quietly and slowly, "it's just that – "

"You're going to be seventeen in two weeks, right?" Dumbledore said, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Sam, who nodded quickly.

"Yea, that's it. And I don't think it's fair that I can't put my name into the goblet because I'm not quite seventeen yet. I'll be seventeen by the time of the first task!"

"I'll tell you what," Dumbledore said, leaning forward with his forearms on his desk. "I'll talk to the other judges either tonight or in the morning and let you know tomorrow morning if you can put your name in or not, alright?" Sam huffed – that was, he knew, an easy way of basically saying "I'm sorry, you can't put your name in." Nonetheless, he muttered,

"Alright," before he grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the door, Riley following us.

"Thanks sir," she said quickly for Sam just before she closed the door.

The next morning, I was talking to the guys during breakfast when Sam came up to me, practically skipping.

"Dumbledore just sent me a letter," he said happily.

"And?"

"He said the judges all agreed that, since I am going to be seventeen in two weeks, that I can put my name in! During my break before lunch, he's going to meet me here and do some hocus-pocus – "

"Some _what_?" David asked, confused.

"Magic," Sam said quickly, "and he's going to allow me to enter my name!"

"That's great!" I exclaimed. "I bet you'll make it. So far, the only people from Hogwarts that I've heard or seen enter are Angelina Johnson, Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff, and some burly Slytherin Quidditch player named Montgomery or something." Sam made a face at the mention of him.

"Fred, George, and Lee are still going to try," he explained. "Aging Potion, I believe. But I don't think it will work. They're convinced it will, though."

As if on cue, Fred, George, and Lee came running into the Great Hall. I saw them talking to Riley, Ron, Hermione, and Harry before the practically skipped over to us.

"Just taken a drop each of Aging Potion," Fred explained. "It's not fair that Sam here – " he patted Sam's shoulder " – gets to put his name in, but whatever." He paused. "I'll go first, shall I?" He skipped, again, over to the gold line, followed by George and Lee. He stopped for a moment on the edge of the line before stepping over.

Nothing happened.

George must have thought they were successful, so he jumped over the line as well, but the next second, there was a sizzling sound and both of them were thrown from the gold circle. As soon as they had landed painfully, there was a popping sound, and both of them grew identical white beards.

**A/N: Do you think that Cedric will still be the Hogwarts champion, or will Sam take it from him? Why don't you take a guess in a review? I always recognize my reviewers at the beginning of each new chapter! Go ahead, I know you want to – review and tell me if you think Sam or Cedric will be champion! Please? **

**Don't forget that my poll is still up!**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks Sunset on Heartache, bambamdramaqueen, and HPJellicleCat for the reviews!**

**I've finally decided who's the champion and the pairings...They might come up this chapter, might not...You'll have to read to find out!**

**Since school's out for a bit, I do hope to update again before Christmas, but no promises. I'll say this now, just in case – Merry Christmas!**

Chapter 20

I wasn't sure if I wanted Sam to make it or not.

Yeah, it'd be pretty awesome to have somebody – especially your _brother_ – to cheer on during the task, better than a Slytherin. But he could die trying. Did I like the risk? I wasn't sure. But with the measures that had been taken to assure safety, nobody would get killed – right?

The next night couldn't come fast enough for me.

When it finally did, I didn't hear anything Dumbledore, or anybody, said until I saw the Goblet turn red and shoot out a slip of paper, which Dumbledore caught effortlessly.

"The champion for Durmstrang," Dumbledore read (being the first thing I had actually heard for quite a while), "will be Viktor Krum."

"No surprise there," I heard David mutter to Sean across the table as we all clapped politely – we didn't really care who the champions from the other schools were, even if they were famous Quidditch players. I secretly agreed with David – somehow, Krum struck me as the type to win this type of thing. Or maybe it was just because he was famous.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," Dumbledore said – the goblet had shot out another slip of paper without me realizing – "is Fleur Delacour!" The girl who was at least part Veela and that David and Sam had been staring at during the feast the previous night got up and walked toward the staff table and through the door. Troy motioned for us to look at the rest of the Beauxbatons students. They seemed fairly – or overly – disappointed. And that's the understatement of the century. Two of them had dissolved into tears and were sobbing. I couldn't help but laugh.

"The Hogwarts champion," Dumbledore called when he caught the next slip of paper. I held my breath, still not sure if I wanted it to be Sam or not, as he continued, "is Samson Black-Lupin." The hall erupted in applause so loud that you couldn't even hear the Slytherins' groans. Every single Gryffindor and almost every Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw jumped to their feet as Sam walked by, smiling hugely. I patted his shoulder as he walked by and he winked at me, smiling even wider.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as, at last, the cheering stopped. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"

"Everyone will cheer, believe me," Sean muttered, still smiling broadly.

But the hall became suddenly silent, and we all knew why instantly. The goblet had turned red yet again, and it quite suddenly spit out another piece of paper. Dumbledore caught it automatically, and after a moment of staring at it blankly, he read out, "Harry Potter."

Every head snapped toward Harry, who was sitting not too far from me, as an angry murmuring filled the huge room. I furrowed my eyebrows. What? There must be some mistake.

Thinking back now, I realize that we all should have expected something like this to happen. Since when did Harry get to have a normal year at Hogwarts? He never had, and probably never will. Back then, though, it had been such a shock to all of the students – myself included – that all we could do was stare. However, I probably wasn't quite as shocked as some of the other students – I had heard the stories of Harry's first two years and had been there the previous year.

I noticed Hermione, Ron, and Riley staring blankly at Harry. Riley still had the excitement of Sam getting chosen in her eyes, but you could still easily find the shock in there as well. When Harry's eyes swept down the Gryffindor table and past my eyes, I smiled slightly at him, probably the only person to provide any encouragement at all.

"I didn't put my name in," Harry said to the three of them. "You know I didn't." The three stared at him blankly still, but when he looked past me again, I smiled encouragingly and nodded, silently telling him that, despite the fact that his best friends might not have, I did believe him.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

Harry slowly got up and walked up the aisle. The murmuring grew louder. It seemed every single person in the room was mad at him – Malfoy seemed to be cursing under his breath, Ron was glaring at him, Troy, Sean, and David were muttering to each other, Hermione and Riley seemed unsure what to think. I still believe that I was the only one to know, instantly, that Harry wouldn't have entered his name, at least not without telling those three.

When Harry had disappeared behind the door the champions had gone through, the angry murmuring became yelling.

"He's a cheat!"

"It's a scandal!"

"He's not even seventeen!"

"He can't play!"

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore yelled. Silence followed his yell as usual. "Prefects, lead your houses to your dormitories. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students, if you will, head to your carriage and ship." Everybody did so, but the angry murmuring followed everybody through the castle.

The chatter was crazy loud in the Common Room. I almost couldn't find the person I wanted to and was searching for, but I finally saw a flash of red hair disappearing up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, and since Fred and George were right in front of me, I knew it must be Ron.

"Ron! _Ron!_" I called after him. He came back around the corner and stared blankly at me, anger evident in his eyes, though not at me. I knew who it was at automatically.

"You can't honestly think that Harry entered himself, can you?" I asked him, disbelief in my voice.

"Well, how else do you suppose his name got in there?" he snapped.

"I don't know! Maybe somebody wanted him to have to compete!"

"And why would they want that?"

"I haven't the faintest idea! Maybe they want him to get hurt, or even killed! I don't know! But what I do know is that Harry doesn't lie about things like this, he doesn't want fame, and he couldn't have gotten past Dumbledore's Age Line if even Fred and George couldn't," I said calmly. Ron sighed, fed up, and headed back up the stairs. "By the way," I called up after him, "what ever happened to standing by your best friend no matter what? You should think about that!" He didn't turn around or acknowledge me in any way.

I sighed and headed back to the girls' dormitories stairs and found Riley and Hermione silently sitting in their dormitory on their beds, seeming to be deep in thought.

"Are you guys going to act your age, or are you going to act like Ron and honestly think that Harry would put his name into that Goblet?" I asked. They jumped at my sudden voice, not having noticed me before, before turning to face me fully.

"_I_ don't think he did," Hermione said. "Riley's a little skeptical, she'll come around soon I'm sure, but what's wrong with Ron? He seemed mad at Harry when he was called."

"He thinks that Harry _did _put his name in. I tried to talk some sense into him, but he didn't listen," I said before I heard the crowd downstairs erupt in cheers. I closed the door to their dorm and headed downstairs to find the crowd around Sam and Harry. Mostly, they were fawning over Sam, but each person took the time to speak to Harry as well. I pushed my way through the crowd up to Sam first – he was my brother, after all, and was standing closest to me.

"Congrats, Sam!" I yelled over the chatter as I hugged him lightly. "I knew you had it in you!"

"Well thanks, Cat!" he said, ruffling my hair lightly. I chatted with him for a moment before I found Harry trying to convince the Weasley twins that he didn't put his name in the Goblet.

"I didn't put it in!" he exclaimed. "Why won't anybody believe me?"

"I believe you, Harry," I said, coming up behind the twins. They rolled their eyes and walked away, leaving Harry to stare, dumbstruck, at me.

"Y-You do?"

"Course," I replied, sitting down on the couch beside him. "You showed no interest in putting your name in last night, you don't like being the center of attention, you don't like the fame that you are _thrust_ into, and, if Fred and George couldn't get past that Age Line, I don't see how you could have." I paused for a second. "No offense."

"None taken," Harry said quickly as he smiled gratefully at me. "And thanks, Abbey, that really means a lot to me. I don't think I'll have much support these next few months – I'm being forced to play. And not many people will believe that I didn't put my name in. I can already tell." He stood up suddenly and stretched. "I think I'm going to go look for Ron upstairs."

"Careful," I warned, "he's in a foul mood." Harry sighed before heading up the stairs. I watched him go before I congratulated Sam one final time before going up to bed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I saw Ron with Riley and Harry with Hermione an awful lot over the next week. It wasn't that Riley didn't believe Harry's story – she did – but she got along better with Ron than Hermione did. I rarely, if ever, saw Ron and Harry even in the same room.

Dad and Father had congratulated Sam when they found out and had also believed Harry immediately. Good thing, too, because otherwise Harry might just be screwed. They had said that they wanted to speak to Harry and Sam and for Riley and I to tag along, and so they had arranged to meet us at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November in the Gryffindor Common Room via the fire, so we would have to clear out the room of everybody. We figured it was plausible – we would drop a Dungbomb if need be.

About two weeks after the drawing of the champions, the normal buzz was back up, even with that stupid and pointless article that that obnoxious Rita Skeeter had published causing drama and rumors. Eyes followed me once again down the corridors, and I absolutely refused to look at Malfoy at all.

I walked into the library about two weeks after Halloween – the day of Sam's birthday (I had gotten him a book of jinxes and curses for the tournament) – and found Hermione sitting alone at one of the few tables that wasn't full. I set my books beside her as Madam Pince came around the corner to hush some fan-girls who were goggling over Krum, who was sitting nearby, either oblivious to or ignoring the girls staring at him.

"Hello Abbey," Hermione said quietly. "What are you up to?"

"I need to do some research for stupid Defense Against the Dark Arts and potions essays that are due soon that I only have about half done." I paused. "I'd ask you what you're doing, but you're always here, so what else is new?" At first, Hermione seemed slightly offended, but then shrugged, as if accepting that I was right. "I'm going to go look for a book, be right back."

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, we were studying werewolves. Despite the fact that I knew more about werewolves than basically every textbook out there put together, obviously, Professor Moody had insisted that we could and would not get credit on our essay unless we used at least two sources. So I decided to say that I used the sources but not really use them.

Just my luck, while down the aisle of the library with the werewolf bppls, Krum came down it as well. It's not like Krum was a bad person or anything, but he and his fan-girls came in a package deal. However, he was looking for a book on dragons on the other side of the aisle and the girls were too frightened to approach him. I wondered why he was looking at dragons but didn't ask.

After a moment, Krum asked me quietly,

"Are you Abigail Lupin? Sam's sister? The one that Draco Malfoy dated?" Taken aback, I dropped the book I was reading the front pages off and scrambled to pick it up.

"Uhh – well, it's _Black_-Lupin, and everybody calls me Abbey, but otherwise, yeah, that's me. Sam's little sister." I paused as his last sentence sunk into my head. I sighed angrily and ran my fingers through my hair. "And _I didn't date Malfoy!_ That bullying prat asked me out too many times to count, but I never, _ever _said yes!"

"Really? Because he said that you and he dated for several months last year but you broke up this year ven you got mad at him for 'using' you."

"You should learn not to get your information from Malfoy as he makes things up – like that. Now you can tell why I never agreed to date him." I paused. "Now, is that all you wanted, or was there a point to this conversation, because I have an essay on werewolves and another potions one to write," I said, more rudely than I meant to.

"You know," Krum said quickly. "I know quite a bit about verevolves, I could help you vith your essay if you needed it – "

"No, I know a lot about werewolves as well. In case it didn't reach Durmstrang, my dad _is _a werewolf. Now, if that's it, I must be going." I turned to go with three textbooks in my arms, but Krum grabbed my arm to keep me from leaving. I turned around and sighed grumpily, waiting for him to say what he wanted from me.

"No," he said quickly. "I vus vondering – who is that girl sitting at the same table as you?"

"Who – Hermione? The fourth year with bushy brown hair?" He nodded. "That's Hermione Granger."

"Is she single?"

I shrugged, noticing that he still had his hand around my arm.

"I don't know! Ask Harry. He's her friend. I'm only sitting by her because she is my sister's best friend and sitting at one of the few tables with empty seats left. Otherwise, I really don't know her too well." I yanked my arm out of his grasp and turned around but, once again, he grabbed my arm to keep me from going. I sighed, annoyed, as I spun around again. "What now?"

"Malfoy, as you call him – you know, he really does like you. I believe he feels bad for vutever he did to make you mad at him." I shrugged again.

"Well, that's his problem isn't it?" I asked.

Just then, I heard a loud bang, as though somebody had dropped several books, from the end of the aisle, and Krum and I both snapped our heads to see who was down there.

It was, to both of our surprises, Malfoy.

He staring at us with his eyes wide, his mouth slightly open, and four books sprawled over his feet. But he seemed not to notice them as his eyes flashed from me to Krum and back again, resting on Krum's hand on my arm every now and then. I sighed and rolled my eyes as I pulled my arm out of Krum's grasp and stalked off the opposite end.

"You dropped something, Malfoy," I called back as I rounded the corner.

Once I was out of their sight but I could still hear them, I crouched behind a bookshelf taller than me to listen in on their conversation. I peeked through the crack between two books and watched Malfoy pick up his four books and set them on an empty shelf next to him before strutting up to Krum.

"Are you trying to deter my chances of getting her back? Because you better not be, for I know she'll choose you over me if you are – your famous and didn't 'use' her."

"No, I vus just asking her about the girl she vus sitting vith," Krum replied quickly. "Chill, I don't vunt _your girl_."

"I'm not his girl!" I snapped under my breath, somewhat hoping that they would hear me but knowing that they wouldn't.

I saw Krum turn to go, but spun around when he reached the end of the aisle to speak to Malfoy. "By the vay, if you vunt her _back_, you best not lie about having dated her in your past. Girls don't like that."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks Duskfire1954, Sunset on Heartache, and Krelseybelle for the reviews!**

**This did not get posted when I wanted it to, sorry about that! Merry – late – Christmas!**

Chapter 21

"Who're you looking at?"

"What – ? Nobody."

"Yes, because I'm just _that _stupid," I said sarcastically. "Come on, tell me, who're you looking at? Not everyday do you stare at the Slytherin table with that look in your eyes – not everyday do you stare at _any _table with that look in your eyes."

"I said _nobody_," Sam said forcefully, tearing his eyes away from the Slytherin table for the first time since breakfast had started to face me. "Why are you so nosy?"

"I get it from my brother," I answered. Sam stared at me, as though bored, before he leaned closer and said,

"Fine. I'll tell you. But I haven't told anybody – even Fred and George and Lee – yet. So you can't tell anybody." He paused, and I nodded in agreement to not telling anybody. Sam turned back to the Slytherin table and pointed to a Durmstrang girl with long, slick brown hair pulled into a very high ponytail. "You see that girl?" I nodded. "I'm thinking of asking her to go to Hogsmeade with me today." As I watched, the girl leaned over and started talking to Krum. "Her name's Veronica Angeleno, but I've heard her friends call her Ronnie."

"How do you even know her?" Sam shrugged.

"She's always in the library when I am. Always asks to sit by me because she says the other seats are all taken."

"Since when do _you _go to the library?"

"Since I'm going to fight to survive these next few months."

"Well _you _– " I started.

"I know, I know," Sam interrupted quickly. "_I_ was the one who signed up for it, but still, it's not exactly what you think it'll be." He paused, looked around to make sure nobody was listening, and then whispered to me, "Hagrid showed me what the first task is last night." I waited for him to tell me what it was, but when he didn't, I had to ask,

"Well? What is it?"

"Dragons. You have to get past them, or something." I was sure my eyes widened as I asked,

"But isn't that a bit dangerous?"

Sam laughed humorlessly.

"Isn't the whole competition dangerous? It's supposed to be. That's the whole point of the game." He stopped laughing and shrugged. "It's dangerous all right, but they have dragon tamers there just in case, you know? I doubt they will do anything, though, except stand there. Charlie's there."

"Still," I muttered. Maybe it wasn't such a good thing that Sam had been chosen to compete... "How are you supposed to get past dragons anyway?"

"I don't know yet," Sam said thoughtfully. "All I know is that they're nesting mothers. So they're probably going to be harder to get past."

"Perhaps you have to do something with their eggs, or nest, or something," I suggested. We lapsed into thoughtful silence for a while.

"So tonights the night we're meeting Dad and Father, isn't it?" Sam asked randomly. I nodded.

"Yes it is. I just hope we don't have to set off that Dungbomb to get everybody out of the Common Room by one."

"What?" Sam asked, pretending to be shocked. "The daughter of two Marauders _doesn't _want to set of a Dungbomb? What has this world come to?" I rolled my eyes before I got up to go sit by David and Sean, who had just came down – a few minutes later, I saw Sam get up and go after that Durmstrang girl – Veronica was her name, right? – who was leaving. He caught up with her just as she was leaving the Great Hall.

"Hey," Fred said, sliding into the seat next to me while George slid into the one on my other side. "Who's that Sam's talking to?"

"I don't know," I said, picking at the food on my plate, pretending to be uninterested.

"Sure you don't," George said, "we just saw you talking to him."

"Besides, you didn't even look up to see _who _Sam was talking to," Fred pointed out. I sighed – of course, they only get a few OWLs a piece, but they notice _that_. I decided to ignore Fred's comment completely.

"Doesn't mean that I know. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you two," I said, glaring from one to the other. They both stared at me with the same exact exasperated look on their faces – it was awkward, as though I had a mirror through the middle of my face that mirrored it, as it was basically symmetrical. Finally, at the same exact time, they got up and left the Great Hall, ignoring Sam and the Durmstrang girl, who were still talking in the doorway, as they passed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

That night came fast – very fast.

Sam, Riley and I hung out in the Common Room until Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins finally went up to bed at about half past midnight. Hermione was still in the Common Room studying, but it didn't matter, for we knew she wouldn't tell anybody and that she probably already knew, for Harry had probably told her.

"Did that Durmstrang girl agree to go to Hogsmeade with you or not?" I asked Sam as I checked his watch – it read a quarter till one.

"Yes she did," Sam said happily – he had been acting extremely happy ever since I had seen him once he got back from Hogsmeade, and now I knew why. "Her name's Veronica, or Ronnie, just so you know, not 'that Durmstrang girl.' And she was _amazing_ – she didn't want to go to Madam Puddifoot's at all and insisted on the Three Broomsticks instead. Her accent is awesome, she told me all about Durmstrang and her classes and such and – well, she's just plain great." I smiled but said nothing more as he rattled on and on about Veronica for what seemed like hours.

"Did you know that Rita Skeeter is staying in Hogsmeade?"

"Nope," I answered distractedly. "Hey, I wonder where Harry is," I said randomly, interrupting Sam (I saw him opening his mouth about to speak when I spoke) as I checked his watch once again – it now read five till one. "He'll be late."

"Perhaps he fell asleep upstairs. We can just relay everything on to him if he isn't here," Riley said, stifling a huge yawn. I noticed Hermione yawn and go upstairs out of the corner of my eye, but ignored her as I went back to reading the book that I had been reading since about nine that night.

Suddenly, the portrait hole was pushed open roughly. Sam, Riley and I all snapped our head over to see who was coming in. My first thought was that Dad and Father had decided to meet us face-to-face rather than through the fire, but then I saw that the figure that entered was much too small – maybe nearly as tall, but too thin – to be even Dad.

"Sam – the first task – is – dragons," the person panted as they entered the light of the room.

It was Harry. He was still panting as he slumped onto the couch beside Sam, who stared at him and nodded slowly.

"I know," he said. Harry stared blankly at him until a sudden movement by Riley caught our attention. She was kneeling down beside the hearth and looking into the fire, where Father's head was resting in the flames.

"Father," Riley said as Sam, Harry, and I knelt down beside her, "how're you doing?"

"Never mind me," he said hastily. "How are you all?"

There was no true response that would fit for all of us, so we all shrugged.

"We've all been better, I suppose," Sam replied, "with the Tournament and everything that's been happening here.."

"I told you it wasn't all fun and games if you were chosen," Father said, speaking directly to Sam, who shrugged.

"I know now and I knew then."

"Before we get into anything else," Father said suddenly, "there are things I need to warn you_ all_ about first."

"What?" Harry asked, sounding apprehensive.

"Karkaroff," Father replied simply. "He was a – "

"A Death Eater, right?" I interrupted. "Didn't you say he was in Azkaban with you, but they let him out?"

"Yeah, that's right," Father said. "I'd bet anything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwart and got the best of them this year – to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

"How'd he get out?" Riley asked.

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," Father said bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names… he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place…He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion, and perhaps all of the Durmstrang students, as well." I looked sharply at Sam, who was frowning slightly but said nothing – Veronica was a Durmstrang student.

"Are you saying Karkaroff put Harry's name in the goblet?" Riley asked.

"Because if he did," Sam chipped in, "then he's a _great _actor. He was furious, wanted to keep Harry from competing." Something clicked in my mind.

"We know he's a good actor," I said quietly, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he?" Father nodded at me.

"Abbey's starting to get it," he said. "Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry…" I distinctly heard Harry mutter something but said nothing about it, "- and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Father added, seeing every one of us about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts."

"Because he was the best Auror the Ministry ever had," I said – I was starting to understand exactly what Father was saying. "They think their job would be a lot more difficult with him around, so they tried to get him out of the picture. And Moody hears intruders all the time, I remember Mr. Weasley always complaining about him."

"So you think Karkaroff has it in to kill Harry?" Riley asked, her voice shaking slightly. Father hesitated before he spoke again.

"I've been hearing some very strange things," he said slowly. "And seeing them, actually. The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the World Cup and then set off the Dark Mark, didn't they? And remember what I told you about Bertha Jorkins before the World Cup?"

"She went missing in Albania, where Voldemort was rumored to be," Harry said.

"But what are the chances she walked right into Voldemort?" Riley asked.

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above Remus and James and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, guys. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap. And she would've known about the Tournament, wouldn't she have?"

"So you think Voldemort knowns about the Tournament? That Karkaroff is here on his orders?"

"But wouldn't Karkaroff have already known about the Tournament as well? Couldn't he have just told Voldemort himself?" I asked. "He's the Headmaster of the competing schools, of course he would have known. They wouldn't have needed Bertha Jorkins at all."

"I know," Father said slowly. "Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type to go back to Voldemort without knowing he was strong enough to protect him, anyway. But whoever put your name in that goblet, Harry, did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."

"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," said Harry grimly. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."

"Dragons?" Father asked curiously.

"Hagrid showed us what the first task is," Sam said quickly. "It's dragons. I heard Charlie Weasley saying that we just have to get past them, but they're nesting mothers, so I don't know if that's all we have to do or not."

"_I _think it has something to do with their eggs or nests or something," I said.

"There's a way. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell - dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon. But there is a way to do it alone. A simple spell – "

"Shh!" I hissed suddenly – I had heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I turned around quickly, followed by Riley, Sam, and Harry.

"Go! There's somebody coming!" Riley hissed.

I heard a feint pop behind us and knew Father had gone.

The others knew, as well, for we all scrambled up onto the couches, grabbed books, quills, parchment, anything, and sat around pretending as though nothing had happened and we had been sitting there the whole time. Since Riley had grabbed my book, I pretended that I had fallen asleep on the couch. Sam and Harry whispered back and forth about Quidditch, pretending as though they had been doing so for a while.

"Who are you all talking to? I heard another voice."

It was Ron.

"What's that got to do with you?" I heard Harry ask. "What are youdoing down here at this time of night?"

"I just wondered where you – nothing. I'm going back to bed."

"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harry shouted. I kicked his leg lightly trying to get him to calm down, but he ignored me.

"Sorry about that," Ron said angrily. "Should've realized you guys didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you two get on with practicing for your next interviews in peace."

"Ron!" Riley and Sam snapped.

I cracked my eyelids enough to see Harry stand up, grab one of the POTTER REALLY STINKS badges that the Creevey brothers had accidentally made and throw it at Ron. It hit him in the forehead, and I tried hard not to laugh – perfect aim, of course.

"There you go," Harry snarled. "Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky… That's what you want, isn't it?" I watched him as he quickly strode to the stairs, past Ron, and then disappeared up them. After a long moment, Ron followed him.

When I was sure that they were gone, I sat up slowly. Riley and Sam were staring at the stairs in surprise.

"Ron's an idiot," I muttered angrily.

"That's true," Riley agreed.

"Do you think all the Durmstrang students are like Slytherins?" Sam asked quietly.

"Well, if they're taught the Dark Arts, I'd say so," Riley said. "Why do you care?" Oh shoot, she didn't know about Sam and Veronica – how did she _not _when he had been talking about her continually for the past hour?

"Sam, did Veronica act like a Slytherin?" I asked. Sam shook his head.

"No, she acted more like a Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff at least. Not necessarily Gryffindor, but not Slytherin at all."

"Then why do you care? It doesn't matter what they're taught – it's how they act. If you like her, keep dating her, if not, then don't." Sam nodded.

"Right." 

"Now I'm going to bed," I said, standing up and stretching, fighting back a yawn. "Night guys." 

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: No reviews? Well I expect double the usual amount for this chapter then! **

**Haha, just kidding! But this was a faster update than I had expected, so you should review anyway!**

Chapter 22

"Holey shite! _Sam!_"

"Sorry, sorry Cat, sorry!"

"The third time the past week, Sam, the _third time!_"

"I know, I know, I'm – !"

"_Don't _even say it!" I screeched. "Ronnie, sorry, but I need to speak to Sam alone." Despite the fact that I was talking to Ronnie and not Sam, I continued to glare at Sam as Ronnie, blushing furiously, ran from the empty classroom. "The first task is _tomorrow_," I said dangerously as soon as the door had shut behind her, "you need to be finding a way to get past that drag –_ task_ before you go around making out with your girlfriend every second of every day!"

"But I found a way! At least, I think it will work – "

"Uh huh," I said in disbelief, "and what is it?"

"Okay, fine, I didn't think of anything!" Sam said exasperated, running his hand through his hair and leaning against a wall. "I looked _everywhere!_ I asked Hagrid – pretended that I was interested in what Charlie did, it was easy enough – and all he said was that it was 'tricky'. Well that doesn't help me!"

"What if you put a powerful sleeping spell on it, or used _reducto _to make it smaller and less dangerous, or distracted it with something – what if you distracted it with a Patronus? I know that you can make one, can't you, and you could control where it goes?"

"That's not a bad idea," Sam said thoughtfully. "Yeah, I think I might do that – I can practice making a Patronus during my breaks with the twins or Lee or something. Yeah – thanks Cat!"

"Whatever, just make sure I don't walk in on you stuck to Ronnie's face like that again until _after _the first task." Before Sam could bother me by making up some excuse like "it kept my mind off of the stupid dragons!" or "but she's such a good kisser I couldn't resist!" I turned and left the empty classroom quickly.

"Hey, Abbey."

I turned around just as I rounded a corner to see Ronnie leaning against the wall, as though waiting for me.

"Hey Ronnie, sorry I didn't see you there."

"That's alright." She pushed off of the wall and walked toward me. She was tall – nearly as tall as Sam, who was extremely tall – and loomed over me. She smiled down at me.

"You need something?" I asked, trying to stay polite – her smile was creeping me out.

"Yes, actually. I just vunted to tell you how cute of a couple you and Draco vuld make." I frowned.

"I thought you told Sam that you hated Malfoy?" I said, remembering some things Sam had told me about her previously. She laughed. Her laugh sounded evil, and I knew instantly that it was wrong of me to ever trust her.

"Half of the things I tell Sam are lies," she said in a sickly sweet voice. "Or maybe _everything _I tell him is a lie." I was sure that I was staring at her with my mouth open but didn't care. I was shocked – she had came off as such a sweet girl, and now she was saying these things. Was she joking?

"You – what?"

"I'm just using him for his fame," she said matter-of-factly. "Isn't that obvious?" When I didn't say anything, she continued. "He's avful cute, and since I started dating him, people have started to notice me more. Of course, who vuldn't notice the beautiful girl dating one of the champions?"

"Vain much?" I asked snottily.

"Call me vut you vunt. I don't care." Then, suddenly, she was looking me right in the eyes with an evil glint in her eyes. "You von't tell him, vill you?"

"Of course I will!" I yelled. "He's my _brother, _he actually _likes _you, and you're just going to hurt him!"

"Oh fine, tell him," she said, smiling evilly again. "Tell him vutever you'd like. I'll just deny it – he'll believe me over you. I know he vill." She turned on her heel and walked away quickly, leaving me to gape after her.

"No!" I yelled down the hall. "He'll believe his sister over a snobby Durmstrang girl like you!" She didn't even turn around.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Abbey! I know you don't like Durmstrang students, but to make accusations like that? That's going too far!"

"I'm not making it up! She said it, all of it! I promise you I'm not lying! Ronnie's _using _you, Sam! Just believe me, please!"

"I just – I don't want to talk to you right now." Sam turned and walked quickly down the corridor.

It was later that night just after dinner. I had asked to talk to Sam alone down a deserted corridor during dinner. I should've known he would think I was making it up. I sighed and started to head down the corridor the opposite way of him.

"Hey, Lupin!"

I knew that voice all too well.

I kept walking down the corridor, quickening my pace.

I should've known that it wasn't going to work.

"Lupin! Wait up! _Please_!"

"Go pester somebody else, _Malfoy_. I'm not in the mood," I spat, still walking down the corridor. "By the way, it's _Black_-Lupin. How many times do I have to tell you that?" I could hear his footsteps following me quickly, trying to catch up, but I was walking too quickly.

"Oh, come _on!_ How am I supposed to apologize if you won't let me?"

"The best way to apologize is to _leave – me – alone!_"

"But that's not apologizing!"

Irritated, I sighed and turned around to face him, stopping. Malfoy stopped abruptly, nearly running into me since I had stopped so suddenly.

"How did you know where I was?" I sneered, crossing my arms angrily and glaring right into his gray eyes. "Been stalking me now?"

"No, I just happened to be walking by, it was a coincidence – "

"Did you pick an empty corridor for a reason, or was that a _coincidence _as well?"

"You want to do this in the Great Hall then?" Malfoy asked, somehow managing to keep his patient tone despite the fact that I knew he wasn't a patient person. "I'll do it there, if you want – "

"Just get it over with," I snapped. He stopped talking to stare blankly at me for a moment before he started talking.

"I'm sorry, I truly am," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to – to – to _use _you or whatever you called it. I didn't think about it before I did – I acted and _then _thought, contrary to what parents teach. And I'm sorry, really. I should have realized that you have feelings, and that – "

"Shut up."

"– and – what?" Malfoy had started to continue what he had been saying when he realized that I had spoken.

"I said shut up. I don't want to hear long apologies – for me, right now, a simple 'I'm sorry' would have sufficed."

"What – wait – you forgive me?"

"For now. Just don't do anything to tick me off. And take that pin off!" He looked down at his chest, where a "SUPPORT VIKTOR KRUM" and "POTTER AND LUPIN STINK" pin was glistening on the "POTTER AND LUPIN STINK" side. He quickly pulled it off of his chest and threw it onto the ground, where I stepped on it and smashed it.

"I'm tired of getting those flashed at me all over since Halloween because Sam's my brother." I paused and stepped on it again, sending pieces flying everywhere. "Besides – it's _Black_-Lupin!" Malfoy, however, was still staring at me in awe, surprised that I had forgiven him so easily.

"You – are you serious?"

"No – my father is." When he stared at me blankly, I said, "Oh, never mind. Yes, I'm serious. Any other day, no, I wouldn't have forgiven you so easily, but today – I've had a lot happening lately."

"So – we can be friends?"

"Well, you can't just become friends out of nowhere. You have to realize that these types of things take time. A lot of time. _Especially _with somebody that you were basically raised to hate who was also raised to hate you. And also, I don't know about_ friends_ – how about _acquaintances_? For now?"

"I guess that's better than enemies," Malfoy said, but I noticed that he sounded disappointed.

"I have to go," I said, motioning over my shoulder, "to try to convince Sam that I wasn't making that up." I quickly turned and walked up to the Common Room, where I found Sam sitting with the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan on comfy couches by the fire. I slid in, unnoticed, between Sam and George.

"Hey Cat!" Fred said when he noticed me. Sam's head snapped toward me, and I heard his annoyed sigh and felt his glare on the back of my head as George asked,

"What's up?"

"I need to speak with Sam," I replied, "_alone_," I added.

"Whatever you have to say, you can say to me here," Sam relied stubbornly. I sighed.

"Fine," I said. "You have to believe me – why would I lie about this?"

"About what?" Lee asked. Both Sam and I ignored him.

"I don't know!" Sam replied. "You tell me! Why are you making it up? Ronnie is a great person! I know her way more than you know even Riley or me or David or Sean or Troy or – "

"I get it," I said quickly cutting him off. "But she's lying! I _heard _her! What if I stole some of Snape's Veritaserum and took it, would _that _convince you?"

"You'd probably just use water," Sam spat at me.

"Sam, she's not lying."

Sam, George, and I spun around in our seats while Fred and Lee looked over our heads to see Katie Bell, one of Chasers on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, standing directly behind George looking as though she felt awkward and nervous to be talking to us.

"Why do you say that?" Sam asked, his tone a whole lot less harsh than it had been when he was talking to me.

"Today, I accidentally left one of my books in the Charms classroom so I had to go back to get it. On my way down there, I was taking that short-cut behind that portrait with that weird old wizard who yells at students as they pass, and I was about to come out of the other end of it, behind that portrait of that lady with her baby that cries all the time, when I heard two people talking in the corridor. I didn't want to interrupt, but I couldn't help but overhear what they were saying." She paused, looking as though she didn't want to say it. "It was Abbey and that Veronica girl."

"No," Sam said, shaking his head, "It can't be."

"I'm sorry, Sam," I said quietly.

"No, no, no!" Sam put his head in his hands before he quickly got up and ran up to his dormitory.

"It's okay, Katie," I said when he was gone and I turned back to her – she looked about ready to cry. "He'll be fine. Thank you, for that, by the way." She smiled slightly at me before she went back to her friends, still looking upset.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Cat, it's just – "

"It's okay, Sam, I understand. Good luck. Do you have a plan?"

"Sure do." McGonagall hurried down toward Sam in the Great Hall and ordered him to the grounds. He told me to meet him afterward and then disappeared with Harry for the grounds. I sat down beside Sean at the table feeling extremely nervous.

"Oh, chill out," Sean said nonchalantly. "He was chosen, wasn't he? There's obviously a reason for that. He'll be fine."

"Shut up!" I snapped, not caring how rude I was being. "You're not helping!"

"Abbey," David said, sounding much more caring than Sean had. "He's going to be fine. Didn't he say that he had a plan? Don't worry about him."

"Easy for you to say," I muttered as we made our way out to the stands that had been magicked onto a spot near the forest. After waiting for a few minutes in the stands behind Fred, George, and Lee and in front of Ron and Hermione, one of the dragons was brought out onto the grounds in front of us.

"Can I worry now?" I asked David, clenching my fists – despite the fact that I knew that it was coming, it was hard to imagine.

"I'd say so," David muttered, sounding worried himself.

There was a whistle, and Bagman came out quickly beside the judges just down from us and shouted over the crowd,

"First up is Mr. Black-Lupin!"

"At least he gets to get it over with," Troy said calmly to me. I didn't reply – my long fingernails were leaving marks in my thighs now, despite the pants and robes I was wearing over them.

Sam, shaky and pale-looking, entered the enclosure trying to show some confidence but failing miserably. The dragon, a bluish-gray Swedish Short-Snout, didn't seem to notice him at first – instead, it was facing the opposite direction, crouched over its eggs. But Sam must have stepped on a rock, or crunchy leaf, or took a breath too deep, for the dragon suddenly turned to him.

For a second, I thought he had frozen in fear, but he suddenly raised his wand, his face set, and yelled,

"_Expecto patronum!_"

A huge bear burst forward from his wand. Bagman was shouting something – I heard "strong Patronus" and "what's he planning?" but that was it as I watched Sam slowly move the big bear around the dragon, slowly moving around at the same time in the opposite direction.

The dragon didn't know who to go for – Sam or the bear? But Sam was smart enough to have the bear edge closer to the eggs, so the dragon took a lunge for it – Sam ran around, as close to the edge of the enclosure as possible, as the dragon reared after the dodging bear.

Sam now had the bear opposite of him, so the dragon could no longer see him at all. The bear was moving slowly back toward the entrance of the enclosure and the dragon's eyes were following it. Sam edged his way around the enclosure until he had perfect sight of the eggs, where the golden one was resting among them.

Sam edged forward slowly, keeping his eyes fixed from the dragon's tail to the bear, trying to be certain that he wouldn't get reared on suddenly or get smacked by the tail.

As he edged closer, he had the bear back away slightly. But the dragon got pissed – as she sent a jet of fire toward the bear (which did absolutely nothing to it at all), her tail swiped back and smacked Sam across the shoulders, chest, and face, leaving two long scars mostly across his chest and cheeks. The crowd gasped as one – I, along with a few other girls, shrieked. Sam's Patronus flickered and then disappeared.

The dragon reared, turning back toward Sam and nearly smacking it's tail against Sam again – luckily, it didn't. But Sam wasn't going to wait, even if it meant getting hurt more – he lunged forward and grabbed the golden egg, leaving the dragon confused as to where he had gone.

The crowd erupted in screams – even some of the Slytherins were yelling – as the dragon keepers rushed forward to move the dragon and get another one out for the next champion. McGonagall, Hagrid, and Moody rushed onto the field and sent Sam off to get healed while I pushed my way down – I didn't know if I was allowed to yet, but being as he's family, I assumed they would let me.

"Where you headed girl?" Karkaroff snarled as I walked past the judges table.

"To see my brother, nobody else has a problem with it," I replied just as rudely as I crossed the stands and entered the tent just as Sam was coming out, healed and looking as good as ever. I flung my arms around him as soon as I saw him.

"Good job Sam! You did brilliantly!"

"Thanks Cat! Gerroff, here come the scores!" I spun around to watch as Madam Maxime raised her wand and shot out a long silver ribbon, which twisted itself into a twisty seven. The crowd roared with applause.

"Not bad," I said. "I bet she took points off for your chest and face."

Crouch went next – he shot a number eight. Dumbledore sent up an eight like Crouch had. Bagman shot up a nine and, much to my surprise, Karkaroff shot up a six.

"_Six_?" I yelled, angry.

"What else do you expect from Karkaroff?" Sam said, sounding unsurprised.

"True," I muttered, although I was still quite angry.

"That's a total of thirty-eight for Mr. Black-Lupin!"

Sam and I watched together as Fleur and Krum went. Fleur got a total of thirty-seven points and Krum got a forty, which left him in first – "for now" Sam and I both added as we watched Harry "accio" his forebolt.

"Great Scott, he can fly!" Bagman shouted as Harry flew higher and higher on his broom, dodging the Horntail's fire. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"

When Harry got the egg faster than anybody, neither Sam or I were shocked.

"Well Harry, you did brilliantly – but what else is new?" Sam asked as we helped Harry into the First Aid tent to be healed by Madam Pomfrey.

"Thanks Sam," Harry said. "How'd you do?"

"Alright," Sam replied. "Got thirty-eight points total. Krum's leading the board with forty – I bet you'll beat him." We both quickly explained what Sam and the other two had done when Hermione and Ron bustled in. I knew instantly from his face that Ron was in shame – he must have figured it out that Harry hadn't put his own name into the goblet. As Sam and I left them to be alone, I kicked his shin, but not too hard – only hard enough for him to glare daggers at me.

After Harry got a forty to tie with Krum (Karkaroff only gave him a four, but Sam and I both had expected nothing more from him), Sam and I headed up to the castle together, happy for the time being.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks twiinklestar, nartyteek, and Duskfire1954 for the reviews!**

**I had more fun writing this chapter than I should have...  
**

Chapter 23

"A _ball_?"

"Hey, at least we don't have to go," Sean pointed out happily. "Unless we want to ask a fourth year girl. And let's face it – a fourth year girl with a second year boy? _Awkward_." David and I laughed.

"_You _could go with a fourth year boy," David said, turning to me with a defined smirk on his face. I instantly knew where he was going with this... "A fourth year boy with a second year girl isn't awkward – at least, not as awkward as a fourth year girl with a second year boy."

"I don't want to go to some stupid ball," I replied, turning away from him. "I'm _twelve_ – I couldn't care less about dancing." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw David still smirking as he muttered,

"Whatever you say."

In reality, I thought it would be sorta fun to go to the ball. However, I _was _only twelve and didn't need to worry about going to a stupid ball, besides, I didn't even know how to dance – although I was sure that I could figure out how to if I really wanted to – and I already knew who was going to ask me. I planned on saying no, though, because I really didn't want to go...did I?

"Hey, Abbey!"

I groaned. "Not already," I muttered in a whiny tone. Only David and Sean heard me, and they both started to laugh. David tried to cover it up by turning away and Sean tried to by pretending to have a coughing fit, but neither of their tactics worked – it was completely obvious they were laughing.

"_Abbey!_"

"What?" I asked irritably, turning to find myself, once again, facing Malfoy, who was flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. Why was I suddenly feeling a strange sense of deja vu? Oh, because I've been through this countless times. I heard David and Sean, still laughing, walk away to go to dinner, leaving me to face my doom alone.

"Are you going to the ball?" Malfoy asked, smiling slyly.

"Nope," I replied shortly. His smile slipped, but only for a second before it came right back.

"Would you like to go with me?"

"I'm not going at all," I retorted. "And of all people, I would _not _like to go with you."

"I thought we were friends now?" he pointed out, still smiling, although now it looked forced and, I'll be honest, kinda creepy. "We could just go as friends?"

"I said we were _acquaintances_," I reminded him. I noticed Crabbe and Goyle start to flex their muscles behind him, as though trying to convince me to say yes or they would hurt me. I wasn't scared. They didn't look scary at all – actually, they looked pretty funny standing there flexing their almost non-existent muscles.

"Well, then let's go as _acquaintances_."

"I already told you – I'm not going," I said. "I'm going home for Christmas." I actually didn't know this for sure, but I _wanted _to. "And I wouldn't go anyway – _especially_ not with you." I turned and started to walk swiftly after David and Sean, but turned back about halfway down the corridor and added, "By the way, Crabbe, Goyle, you might as well stop flexing your _fat_. It looks funny – hilarious, really – but not scary."

"She's not going to ever agree," I heard one of them – Crabbe or Goyle – say to Malfoy as I rounded the corner. I hung back a moment to listen. "You said you had a plan on how to get her to. What is it? She doesn't seem to ever want to budge her opinion of you."

"I'll just keep bugging her," Malfoy replied. "She'll get annoyed with me at some point and say yes."

As I hurried off after David and Sean, I made two resolutions – one: to go home for Christmas and two: whether I did or didn't go home, to not get annoyed and just say yes to get Malfoy to shut up.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

My first resolution – well, it didn't happen.

That night, at dinner, Sam got a letter from Dad saying that he and Father were going out of town during the holidays this year. ("Bullocks," Riley said, and Sam and I quite agreed – they probably just wanted to spend their first Christmas back together in twelve years, y'know, actually _together._) I was disappointed, but didn't let it show. So when the list for who was staying at Hogwarts for Christmas came up, I was the third person to put my name down.

And as for my second resolution – well it was a whole lot easier said than done. Especially when Malfoy found out that I was basically being forced to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays and started asking me to go to the ball with him _every stinking time he saw me._

"Hey, Abbey!" he would call across the corridor. I would attempt to ignore him, but it somehow never worked. "Want to go to the ball with me?"

"_How – many – times – do – I – have – to – tell – you?_" I would yell back at him. "_No!_"

At least this time, Malfoy and I weren't basically all the school talked about. Every now and then, I would hear somebody talking about one or both of us, or David or Sean or Troy would tell me that they heard somebody talking about us, but the usual talk was of the Yule Ball, not us.

"Why don't you just say yes to him?" Romilda Vane asked me one night just before the end of term while I was helping her and Emily Elmsford, her best friend, with a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay in the library – Malfoy was there, too, and had just asked me yet again to go with him. "I mean, he's quite good looking – oh, who am I kidding, he's _sexy_ – he has a _great_ body, he's popular, his family is _rich _– "

"He really seems to like you," Emily chipped in, but she became quiet upon Romilda's glare.

" – he's a pureblood – not that I'm prejudice – "_ good thing she added that, _I thought, _for Emily's a Muggleborn and is pretty touchy about that kind of stuff_ – "he's like the Bryson Bradley of the fourth year and let's face it, older guys are better than ones your age. Who wouldn't want him fawning after them like he does you? Who wouldn't want him for their date at the ball?"

"_I _don't," I replied, "and if you like him so much, go ask him to the ball yourself." Romilda glared at me before she said,

"Fine."

And, to both Emily's surprise as well as mine, she got right up and marched over to Malfoy and Bliase Zambini, who were talking quietly at a nearby table. I couldn't help it – as soon as she started talking to him, waving her hands around as usual, I started laughing. At first, it was just giggling, but then, when Malfoy seemed taken aback and had looked over at me, wondering if it was a joke, I had to bury my face in my arms, which were rested on the table. It was just so funny – Romilda with Malfoy? They didn't go _at all_. But it would be rather entertaining to see, to be honest.

I heard Romilda slump back into her chair across from me and _humpf_, but I was still laughing too hard to look up, or Madam Pince would get mad at me and kick me out.

"Shut up," Romilda huffed.

Finally, when I was able to breath normally, I finished helping them and gathered up my books to leave. Unfortunately, I had to pass Malfoy as I left the library, and as I passed, I already knew what was coming.

"_No_, Malfoy," I said quickly as I passed. "I will _not _go to the ball with you."

"Oh, come on!" I heard him exclaim as I kept walking.

"Shh!" Madam Pince shushed, probably swooping down on him like usual.

"I was just leaving," Malfoy replied. _Oh, please no, don't let him be doing what I think he is._

"Oy, Abbey!" _Damn, he is_. "Abbey, wait up!"

"There's no point in asking again, Malfoy, the answer is and will stay no," I said as I started up the marble staircase, Malfoy right behind me.

"That's not even what I was going to say. I was going to ask if you sent Vane over as a joke."

"No, I didn't. But it's quite funny that you call her _Vane _when that's just what she is – vain." I could just imagine Malfoy smirking behind me at my stupid joke as he asked,

"So, will – ?"

"No. If you want a date that bad ask Parkinson. She's always drooling all over you." I saw Malfoy pretend to gag out of the corner of my eye. I tried to hide my smile.

"Pansy?" Malfoy asked, still pretending to gag – I almost laughed out loud. "I am _not _going to the ball with her."

"What's wrong with her?"

"_What's wrong with her?_" he repeated in disbelief, probably knowing that I knew just what was wrong with her. "Is that a rhetorical question?" he asked jokingly. I shook my head and rolled my eyes, but smiled slightly nonetheless – I didn't let Malfoy see it, however, fore I knew he would never let _that _go, and merely said,

"Sure."

"What do I have to do to get you to go with me?"

"Nothing," I said. But then I realized how he could take that but – damn, too late.

"So is that a yes?"

I sighed, irritated, and turned around to face him. Despite the fact that he was a whole lot taller than me, I was standing two steps above him, so his eyes looked directly into mine as I said angrily,

"_Nothing _will get me to go with you."

"I'll find something that will."

"No, you won't," I replied, turning back around and climbing up the last few stairs to reach the seventh floor.

"Oh yes, I will," Malfoy replied. When I turned back around, he was smiling slyly at me again before he quickly headed back downstairs.

When I entered the Common Room but didn't see Sean, David, or Troy anywhere, I slouched onto the couch beside Ron, who was busy talking to Hermione and Harry – I wondered where Riley was. He was building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap cards, Harry was reading a Chudley Cannons book, and Hermione was looking over some notes.

"What's wrong with you?" Ron asked, noticing my grumpy mood.

"I just got rid of Malfoy." They all shot me sympathetic smiles. "Where's Riley?"

"Detention with Snape for blowing up a potion when she told us that it wasn't her, it was Parkinson," Ron replied just as his card castle exploded. I dove out of the way just in time to avoid getting hit by the explosion and getting my eyebrows singed like Ron had the misfortune of getting.

"Nice look, Ron. Go well with your dress robes, that will," Fred said while he and George sat down on the table in front of us all over the cards.

"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.

"No, he's off delivering a letter," Ron replied. "Why?" I scoffed – why do most people want to borrow owls?

"Because George wants to ask him to the ball," Fred said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.

"Great pair you two would be," I said to George in a completely serious tone. George rolled his eyes in return. "You two look great together, and I'm sure his feathers will go well with your dress robes."

"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," George said to Ron, ignoring me completely. I huffed – that was awful rude.

"Who do you two keep writing to?" Ron asked.

"Nose out, or I'll burn that like your eyebrows," Fred said, waving his wand at him threateningly, though we all knew he was joking.

"You should anyway," I muttered. Fred smiled at me and patted my head as though I were a dog, causing me to frown.

"We've taught you well, Cat," he said. "So, you lot got dates for the ball yet?" he asked, changing the subject completely.

"Nope."

"Well, you better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," Fred said.

"Who are you going with, then?" I asked, actually pretty curious.

"Angelina."

"You've already asked her?" I asked, raising my eyebrows in disbelief – if anybody knew Fred and George, it was me, and I knew they were procrastinators.

"Good point." He turned and yelled across the room, "Oy! Angelina!"

"What?" Angelina, who was a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and in sixth year and was sitting all the way over by the fire, called back.

"Want to come to the ball with me?" She paused, as though considering it, and then called back,

"All right, then."

"There you go," Fred said, turning back to us. "Piece of cake," he said to Ron. He got to his feet suddenly and yawned, but before he and George could go anywhere, Riley came in and slouched next to me, looking tired – I wondered what Snape had made her do but didn't ask – and I asked,

"Who're you going to the ball with, George?"

"Riley," George replied. Riley, upon hearing her name, looked up sharply, looking confused.

"When did _this _happen?" she asked when she finally understood what was going on, though still sounding just as confused as I felt.

"Oh, right," George replied. "Want to go to the ball with me?" Riley paused, staring at him, shocked, before she shrugged and said,

"Yeah, all right." My mouth dropped – George and Riley? _Really?_ I had always thought that Fred got along with Riley better, but I guess I was delusional. Before I could react much, however, my thoughts were interrupted.

"Harry's probably going to ask Cho," Hermione said, looking over the notes she was reading over. We all turned to Harry, whose face was burning beat red instantly, and Fred said,

"Oy, Harry, sorry to break it to you, but I heard that Cho already told Cedric Diggory that she'd go with him." Harry frowned, his face redder still, and turned away.

"Need help finding dates?" I asked them. When neither Ron nor Harry said anything, I continued. "Look here, I'll get you two dates," I said, getting up. Ron called after me to stop, saying that it was easier said than done and I would never be able to do it, being a girl, but I didn't listen as I marched right over to Ginny Weasley, who was sitting not too far away.

"Hey, Ginny, do you have a date for the ball?" I asked. She looked up at me, startled.

"Well, no, but you're a second year and I'm a third and I _really_ don't roll that way – " she started awkwardly.

"No, no, no, no" I said, quickly stopping her before she embarrassed herself further – I heard Fred and George howling with laughter behind me but ignored them. "Harry needs a date." She leaned around me to look at Harry, who was still beat red and staring blankly at the table. She was quickly just as red as he was.

"Yeah, okay," she said quietly. I smiled as I got up.

"Great, thanks!" I made my way quickly through the crowd coming in from dinner back over to the others. "Harry, you're going with Ginny." Harry nodded, still red, as I turned to Hermione. "Hermione, do you – ?"

"I already have a date, yes," she replied without even looking up from her notes.

"Damn," I replied.

"Language," Fred said jokingly. I ignored him.

"And Riley's going with George." Just then, Parvarti and Lavender bustled past, giggling about something-or-other as usual. I got sudden inspiration. "Hang on." I got up and hurried after them. "Lavender! Parvarti!" They turned as they heard their names and I stopped in front of them. "Do either of you have a date for the ball yet? Ron needs a date."

"I'm going with Seamus," Lavender said, "but – "

"I'm free," Parvarti interrupted. "You can tell Ron I'll go with him." She and Lavender turned away, giggling again, as I turned back to Ron smugly and said,

"Viola."

Just then, I spotted Sam sitting alone near the fire. I dismissed myself to go talk with him – I hadn't spoken to him since the first task.

"Hey, Sam," I said, sitting down across from him. "Have a date for the ball yet?"

"Sure do. I asked as soon as I heard that we were having a ball," he replied, and I was startled to hear how happy he sounded about something. When he didn't say anything more, though I had expected him to tell me just _who _he was going to the ball with, I asked,

"Who is it?"

"Katie Bell." Ha! – I had always thought that they would make a cute couple.

"Really?" I asked. When he nodded happily, I exclaimed, "That's great! I always knew you two would get together eventually! You make such a cute couple!"

"Really?"

"Really."

"Thanks, Cat." After a pause, he asked, "Still refusing Malfoy, eh?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I just figured you'd get annoyed eventually and say yes. Plus," he added, smirking at me, "I think you two make such a cute couple." I groaned – not Sam now, too? – and muttered,

"You and the rest of the world."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Hey, Abbey, will you – ?"

"_FINE!_ Just – shut – up!"

Guess my second resolution didn't work out too well, either.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks Krelseybelle, BJ, BlackScarredArrow, and nartyteek for the reviews!**

**Sorry that this took so long! School started up again yesterday (GRRR!) so updates are going to go back to probably weekly. Or so I'll try. **

**I didn't want to cut this there, but not everything I wanted to get this posted ASAP. So, enjoy!**

Chapter 24

It was only a week before Christmas. I wasn't in the greatest mood, despite the fact that it was the first day of break – Snape had just told Sean and I off for "talking too loudly in the corridors" when we hadn't been talking and it had, in fact, been the portraits. He had taken ten points from Gryffindor, also. But I wasn't in the worst mood I've ever been in – it was the first day of break, afterall.

The Great Hall was basically full by the time Sean and I got there for dinner.

"It looks as though the whole school's here," he commented. I didn't say anything as Malfoy caught my eyes from across the room. He had that look in his eyes that he got every time just before he asked me.

"Hey, Abbey," he called across the hall, loud enough for everybody to hear, "will you – ?"

I don't know what compelled me to do it. Maybe it was because everybody kept telling me that we would make a cute couple – the night before, Addison and Adelaide had tried failingly to convince me to say yes. Maybe it was because I was in a foul mood because of Snape. Maybe Malfoy's plan _had _worked, and I had just gotten so fed up with him asking that I forced myself to do it. Maybe (sometime, I think this is probably it) I actually _wanted _to do it. I still don't know. Either way, something clicked in my head that second.

"_FINE!_" I shouted before I could stop myself. "Just – shut – up!"

The hall became silent instantly. Even the teachers were staring at us – mostly me – in shock. Malfoy's eyes were wide, his mouth slightly open. I saw several people giving their friends money, and even saw Flitwick giving Hagrid some. Had basically the whole school really been betting on whether or not I would finally say yes to Malfoy?

"W-What?" Malfoy asked. A whispering broke out among the watching crowd as I stared, dumbstruck, at Malfoy. No, no, I hadn't really said yes...had I? "Did you just say yes?" I quickly shook my head, though I knew it wouldn't work – basically the whole school had been listening.

"N-No," I spluttered, "no I-I didn't. You've gone mad, you have."

"You said yes," he said, his confused expression now turning into a smile and a face full of glee. "You said yes!" he repeated, almost yelling it this time.

"No, I said – "

"Face it," Malfoy said, smiling at me, "you said _yes_!"

There was no getting out of it.

Annoyed – with both Malfoy and myself – I slumped over to the Gryffindor table. I felt most, if not all, of the eyes in the Great Hall on me as Sean and I sat down across from David and Troy. Sean reached over and handed two galleons to David, who smirked at him and then at me.

"Finally got annoyed, huh?" Troy asked.

"No," I spat at him.

"We knew you would say yes eventually," David said, pretending as though I hadn't spoken. He glanced at Sean before he continued. "Well, _I _did at least. Sean thought you would never say no. Troy had no idea if you would or not. But me? I knew you would say yes."

"Shut up," I grumbled, leaning forward and smacking my forehead on the table in front of me. The previous whispers in the hall now broke into excited talk and laughter yet again. And despite the fact that most people tried to hide it by talking about the Yule Ball when I could hear up, I knew most of them were talking about me and/or Malfoy.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The week leading up to Christmas went by way too fast. For the first time in my life, I dreaded Christmas. Whenever I passed him in the hallways, Malfoy would wink at me and I would glare back at him, something that nearly the whole school took notice of instantly.

When I woke up Christmas morning, I found a pile of parcels at the bottom of my bed. I read through who they were from before I opened any. Mrs. Weasley, Riley, Sam and the twins, Dad and Father, Addison and Adelaide, and then one single present from Troy, David, and Sean – they always got together to get presents for our group. I was the only one who didn't join up with somebody.

"Morning," Addison said wearily as she pulled the curtains to her bed open.

"Morning," Adelaide replied, yawning widely, as she too opened her curtains. I said nothing as I picked up the first parcel, from Mrs. Weasley. I already knew it contained the usual, lavender sweater, which I pulled on, and my favorite homemade fudge. Riley had given me a book on the Holyhead Harpies, my favorite Quidditch team. Sam and the twins had given me a big box of the latest Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, including fake wands, canary creams, Ton-tongue toffees, and more. Dad and Father gave me a large box of chocolates – I was sure Dad had insisted on that – tickets to a Holyhead Harpies vs. Chudley Cannons game that Father was going to take Riley, Ron and I to that summer, and five way mirror between Riley, Sam, Father, Dad and I. Troy, David, and Sean had given me a big box of Honeydukes candy and a subscription for a Quidditch magazine that I was always complaining about having to steal from Sam and a subscription to Witch-Weekly.

"Hey, thanks for the new chess set! How'd you know I needed a new one?" Troy asked when I met him, Sean, and David downstairs. I shrugged mysteriously.

"I'm intuitive." I actually knew because Sean had told me.

"And thanks for the sneakoscope," Sean said. He was always saying that he thought that people were up to something, so I had gotten him a rather nice sneakoscope so he would know if they really were.

"And for the spell-checking quill and Exploding Snap cards," David agreed.

"You're all very welcome. Thanks for the candy and subscriptions."

"Anytime," David said.

"How come you always get your favorite color?" Ron complained as he walked by, probably talking about my sweater. "I'm always stuck with maroon." Yep, definitely talking about the sweater.

"Because your mother actually knows my favorite color," I called after him as he climbed out of the portrait hole. "And would you rather have lavender, or maroon?" He either didn't hear me or chose to ignore me.

"So the ball is tonight," Sean said, smiling mischievously and waggling his eyebrows at me.

"Don't remind me," I muttered, glaring at him. "I want this day to go as slow as possible." Sean continued to smile mischievously at me as I led the way downstairs to the Great Hall. When we passed the doorway to the dungeons, Malfoy was on his up them. Just my luck. Once again, he winked at me as we passed, but I pretended I didn't see him.

Despite the fact that I wanted it to come slowly, that night came way too quickly for me.

"Can we curl your hair for you?" Adelaide asked me as I entered our dormitory to start getting ready. "If Addison does your makeup at the same time, then we can be done in about an hour." I smiled.

"Sure. I've never curled hair before."

"Oh, it's easy!" Addison exclaimed as she shoved me into a wooden chair that looked as though they had stolen it from a classroom. "And fun! So is doing makeup, although there aren't magical ways to do that so we'll have to do it the good old Muggle way." Before I could even blink, Addison was sitting in front of me with a bag of makeup and Adelaide was standing behind me with a bag of hair clips.

"And the good thing is, unlike Muggles, you can't get burnt curling hair," Adelaide said happily.

"How do you even curl hair?"

"Well, you wrap the strand of hair around your wand in the shape that you want the curl and, once it's all around it, you say the spell _crispo, _which means I curl in Latin, and viola," Adelaide answered, showing me the tight, corkscrew curl she had just made.

"You have a curl that you don't even have to hairspray," Addison finished for her. "Question – your robes are red, right?" I nodded. "Good. I have the perfect makeup for that."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"You look very nice."

"Thanks. Now wipe that obnoxious smirk off your face before I am forced to hit you."

"You wouldn't do that."

"Wouldn't I? I have before. If I recall correctly, you cried like a baby afterward, too," I said, making that up, although it wouldn't have surprised me if it were true. Malfoy's smirk slipped from his face for the first time as he said,

"I most certainly did _not_."

"Mhmm," I mumbled in mock disbelief. "Sure you didn't."

"Who's that girl with Krum?" Malfoy asked suddenly, probably just trying to change the subject, standing on his toes to look over the heads of the Durmstrang students that had just entered the Entrance Hall. I didn't look to where he was – I wouldn't be able to see over their heads, anyway, if he couldn't – but instead looked around for Sam and Katie, Fred and Angelina, and George and Riley as I answered,

"Hermione."

"What? No, I said the girl with _Krum_."

"Yeah," I replied, spotting Fred and Angelina standing near the closed doors to the Great Hall. "I know. That's Hermione."

"How do you know? You didn't even look."

"Well, it's not like I'd be able to see anyway," I pointed out. "And as Hermione is my sister's best friend, I know a lot of things about her. Plus, I knew that Krum liked her because he asked me if she was single one time. And when Hermione said she already had a date, I put two-and-two together."

"Hey, Abbey!" I turned to see Riley, in robes of a dark navy color, her hair pulled into a nice, wavy ponytail on the side of her head, pushing her way through the crowd in the Entrance Hall toward me. "Have you seen George? We must have gotten separated in the crowd."

"Well, I see _Fred_ – at least, I assume it's Fred, as he's with Angelina – but I haven't seen George, no, sorry."

"Wait," Malfoy said as Riley sighed and turned to leave. She turned back to him. He was leaning around Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang, who were hurrying to the front where McGonagall had called the champions. "I think I see Weasley – over there." He pointed to where he was looking. "Unless that's the other one, I can't tell – "

"That's Ginny you idiot," I said, spotting Harry and Ginny in the area that he was pointing.

"No, to the left of Potter and Weasley."

"Oh! I see him!" Riley said. "Unless it's Fred, but I don't think so because Angelina isn't there. Thanks!" She scurried off after where she had seen George – I still didn't see him, but I had a tall Beauxbatons student in front of me, so I figured that was why.

"I thought you hated Riley?" I said to Malfoy.

"I do, but as she's going to be my sister-in-law sometime in the future, then I have to get used to her." Despite the fact that I figured that he wanted that to be true, I could tell that he was joking.

"Right," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"In all honesty, she isn't that bad," he said, seriously this time, as the doors to the Great Hall burst open. Instead of the usual House tables, there were about a hundred small, round, lantern lit ones that seated about a dozen people each. There was a large, round table at the top of the Hall where the judges were sitting and where the champions and their partners were going to sit. The walls had been decorated in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the ceiling, which showed of a clear, starry night.

Malfoy started to head toward his Slytherin friends, but I quickly stopped him.

"I am _not _sitting by Crabbe, and Goyle and Zambini and Parkinson and – well, all of _them_." I nodded my head toward the group of about ten Slytherins.

"Good."

"Huh?"

"I didn't really want to sit by them either," he said quietly, as though afraid of being overheard. "But I didn't want to seem like I was ditching my friends – even though I basically am." He paused. "Pretend to pull me over there by Weasley and Patil and all of them." I looked to where he had indicated and saw Ron and Parvati, Fred and Angelina, George and Riley, and Lee Jordan and Alicia Spinnet were sitting. My eyebrows furrowed, confused.

"You _want _to sit by them?"

"Better them than Crabbe and Goyle." For some reason, I felt that he had a completely different reason but didn't ask as I did as he asked – "pretended"(I actually, basically, _did_) to pull him over to them.

"Hey Abbey," Fred said when he caught sight of me "dragging" Malfoy over to them. "Malfoy," he said with much contempt, glaring at Malfoy.

"Weasel," Malfoy responded with just as much hatred in his voice. I pulled out the chair beside Riley and "shoved" Malfoy into it.

"Oh come on you guys," I said, sitting down beside Fred and Malfoy. "Grow up."

Just then, the champions came in with their partners. The crowd applauded, and I watched Ginny and Katie blush on the arms of Harry and Sam. Sam was smiling broadly – Harry looked green, as if he was about to be sick, and as though he wished to be anywhere but there.

"Is that _Hermione _with _Krum_?" Fred asked. But I was too busy looking at the judges table to answer.

"What the hell is _Percy_ doing here?"

"What? Where?" George asked. His eyes landed on Percy at the judges table. "Bloody hell..."

"Where's Crouch?" Malfoy asked.

"Maybe he's sick," I suggested.

"He doesn't seem the type to just miss this, though," Malfoy said, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Even if it is only a dance, he wouldn't miss it, even if he was sick."

"There goes Fleur again," Angelina said impatiently, watching Fleur Delacour at the champions table. "Criticizing Hogwarts' decorations." We didn't even have to ask how she knew – when we looked at where Angelina was, we could tell. Fleur was looking around the Hall with a very irritated look on her face as she talked hurried to Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, next to her.

I looked up and down the table and noticed Ginny talking to Percy looking angry. I wondered if she was telling him off for something.

"Oo, look!" I said. "Sam and Harry had the misfortune of sitting beside Percy. Looks like Ginny is telling him off for something."

"Potter brought Weaslette?" Malfoy asked, noticing Ginny beside Harry in pale teal dress robes. I turned to glare a him. He got the hint and said nothing until the Weird Sisters appeared and the champions started dancing. "I don't think Potter knows how to dance," he said, although he didn't mean it as rudely as it could be taken. I looked and saw Ginny leading Harry. It wasn't that noticeable unless you were watching very closely, but it was true.

Soon, more couples had joined the dance floor. Dumbledore and Madam Maxime, Fred and Angelina, George and Riley, Neville and Padma Patil. The song was about halfway over when Malfoy stood up and extended one hand toward me, smiling.

"Well, my lady, would you like to dance?" I smiled.

"Oh, why not?"

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks nartyteek, Duskfire1954, and Krelseybelle for the reviews!**

**So I've been debating on the second to last paragraph since Thursday (you better not have just scrolled down there to see what it was. You have to read first!) but I decided to put it there. If you think it was a bad decision, tell me in a review or PM, because I'm still not sure.**

Chapter 25

"Do you even know how to dance?"

"Nope," Draco – since he had started being civil to my friends now, I decided it wouldn't hurt to call him Draco instead of Malfoy – replied as he took one of my hands in his and put the other on my waist. I put my other hand on his shoulder. "Do you?"

"No idea," I answered.

"Well," he said, smiling slightly at me and looking around. "I guess we'll just have to figure it out. It doesn't look that hard, does it? I think I have an idea of how to start."

"Unless you're going to dance like Moody and Professor Sinistra, then yeah, it looks pretty easy," I said, nodding toward the two. Moody was doing a horrible job, and Sinistra was having issues avoiding his wooden-leg. Draco laughed as he started revolving slowly on the spot.

"Hey Percy," I said as we came up behind him. He turned around, shocked, and stared at Draco and I – actually, more so Draco than me – before he said,

"Hello, Abigail."

"What are you doing here?" I asked, ignoring his use of my full name.

"I've been promoted," he said. "I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."

"Where is he?"

"I'm afraid to say Mr. Crouch isn't well, not well at all. Hasn't been right since the World Cup. But the World Cup was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then, Mr. Crouch suffered a huge personal shock with the misbehavior of that house-elf of his. Naturally, he dismissed her immediately afterward, but well, as I say, he's getting on, he needs looking after, and I think he's found a definite drop in his home comforts since she left."

"Well he shouldn't have dismissed her then, should he?" I asked. Percy frowned at me before he continued.

"And then we had the tournament to arrange, and the aftermath of the Cup to deal with - that revolting Skeeter woman buzzing around –no, poor man, he's having a well earned, quiet Christmas. I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place."

"Has Mr. Crouch stopped calling you 'Weatherby' yet?" I asked. Draco snorted and looked away to hide his laughter. Percy frowned as he said stuffily,

"Mr. Crouch has a lot of people working for him and too many things to do to take the time to remember all of their names."

"Right," I muttered as we waltzed away, Draco still laughing. I couldn't help but smile at him.

"Hey," I said, suddenly realizing sometime a while later while we were resting and drinking butterbeer, "you wore your hair down today." Instead of slicking his hair back like he usually did every day, he was wearing his hair hanging down in his face, covering the tops of his eyes and his whole ears. It reached to just below his ear lobes. He smiled slyly at me.

"About time you noticed," he said.

"It looks nice," I said honestly. "What made you wear it down?" He shrugged.

"Just a change. And I thought you might like it." I frowned over at him, noticing Ron either talking very loudly or yelling at Hermione a short distance away, Harry and Ginny standing by helplessly and awkwardly, and Fred still dancing with Angelina exuberantly on the dance floor. I couldn't help but take notice of him watching Riley and George nearby. Sam and Katie were also taking a break from dancing a few tables over.

"How did you know I'd like it?" I asked Draco suspiciously, trying to ignore Fred looking at my sister.

"Well I know a lot of things about you."

"Like what?"

"Like...well, at lot of things. Er, you have a furry Siamese cat named Phoenix, your full name is Abigail Catherine Black-Lupin, you're closer to your brother than your sister, and to Black than to Lupin, your favorite color is lavender, you don't _hate _anybody, no matter what – well, maybe you hate Veronica and that Peter Pettigrew dude, but that's it, if even them – "

"How do you know all of this about me?" I asked, still watching Fred.

" – _and_," he added quickly, ignoring my interruption, "you're paying more attention to Fred staring at your sister than you are to what I've been saying." I couldn't help but watch George now, who was watching Angelina like Fred was Riley, out of the corner of my eyes, as I quickly snapped my head back to him and smiled sheepishly.

"I guess you know more about me than I thought you would."

When the song ended, Bagman, who had been waltzing with McGonagall, had been cornered by Fred and George.

"What're they doing?" Draco asked, watching them too. I shrugged, watching Bagman wave them off suspiciously.

"I don't know," I replied. "But they've been acting strange lately. Talking about blackmailing somebody and won't even tell Lee or Sam what they're talking about." I paused. "Ron and I have both tried getting it out of them, but they keep refusing to tell either one of us."

"Weird. You think they're blackmailing Bagman?"

"Why would they, though?" I asked. "I know Fred and George, and they wouldn't blackmail somebody for fun and for no reason. As far as I know, they have nothing against Bagman. I mean, they bet against him at the World Cup and then won, but I _saw _him pay them back, so that couldn't be why."

"Maybe he didn't pay them _every_thingback," Draco suggested. I shrugged as I saw Harry and Ginny sitting by Ron, looking bored. I frowned.

"Hang on a moment." Without waiting for a reply, I got up and pushed my way through the crowd to them and and squeezed in between Ginny and Harry. First, I turned to Ginny. "I'm not trying to deprive you of your date, I just need a quick word with Harry and then I'll be gone."

"Ron's already depriving me of my date," she said sulkily. I didn't say so, but I thought that it was also Harry's fault, not just Ron's.

"Harry!" I hissed in his ear so only he could hear. He turned to face me as though noticing me for the first time. "I got you a date with Ginny so you could actually_ talk _to her, not just ignore her! Ask her to dance at least a few more dances! Enjoy conversations with her. Don't let moody over there," I nodded toward Ron, "get you sulky too."

"Moody's over _there_," Harry corrected, pointing to Moody, who was dancing with Professor McGonagall. I almost laughed but kept it in.

"You know what I meant. Now dance at least two more dances with Ginny or I'll never help you with anything ever again," I snapped. That was a lie – if Harry ever asked me for help with something, anything, I would help him, even if I didn't know how and I knew it. Harry groaned and muttered,

"I don't like dancing."

"Why? Are you afraid of it or something? You've danced _once_! It takes a while to get used to it! Believe me! Where's that Gryffindor courage? You've faced a dragon – dancing should be a breeze!" I stood up and added, "Heed my warning. _Two _more," before I nodded to Ginny and Ron and went back over to Draco, who was talking to, much to my surprise, Sam and Katie.

"Hey Sam," I said as I neared. "What's up?"

"Well shouldn't a guy get a dance with his little sister?" he asked, holding his hand out to me. I took it and turned to Draco.

"Be back in a minute."

As Sam and I were walking away, I heard Katie say, "Don't even _think _about it." I assumed that Draco was going to ask her if she wanted to dance just to make sure, but she caught him and said no.

"Just making sure," he said quickly.

"Look at that," Sam said as the song ended and another one started. "A slow song. Just in time."

"Have you been paying attention to Fred and George?" I asked him as he started to dance – he was much better than Draco. I would have to remember how to dance so I could lead next time.

"How they keep eying each other's dates? Yeah, it's not hard to notice. I think they're better suited for the other's date rather than their own." He paused and then nodded to a point behind me on the dance floor. "Look at that; they're dancing with each other's dates." I looked over my shoulder to see Fred with Riley and George with Angelina – I could tell from such a distance because Fred was wearing navy dress robes and George was wearing dark green ones.

"Maybe _they'll _realize they're better suited for each other too."

"I think they already have," Sam said, "they just don't want to admit it to anyone, even themselves and especially each other." As I watched, Fred and George caught each others' gazes and both looked away quickly.

"It's strange to see them like that," I said. "Especially to each other. Look – I've _never _seen Fred even _half _blush before, but there ya go! He just did." Sam laughed.

"I know, right? And Riley's noticing it – look at her." I watched as Riley glanced suspiciously from Fred to George and back again.

"Having fun?" I asked after a moment.

"Yeah. Katie's great, she really is. A whole lot better than Veronica, even when she was acting like she was all sweet and stuff." I smiled and opened my mouth to reply but he cut me off.

"How about you? How's Malfoy?"

"He's actually not as bad as I thought he was," I replied. Then, I suddenly narrowed my eyes. "Is that what this is? Keeping an eye on me? Don't trust me?"

"No," Sam replied quickly. "It's _him _I don't trust."

"He hasn't done anything," I said quickly. "Actually, he's been really civil. A lot more so than I thought he was going to be. He hasn't started any fights or anything – "

"I think you spoke too soon," Sam muttered, motioning for me to look behind me. When I did, I saw Draco and Katie speaking hurriedly to one anther. They kept interrupting each other, and they were both slightly pink in the face. However, they weren't completely red in the face, they were sitting next to each other civilly, and they obviously weren't actually _yelling_.

"Think we should go check it out?" Sam asked.

"Nah," I replied, turning back to him. "They look fine. The song's almost over, anyway. If you hear yelling, though, we better go." Sam laughed.

"Any clues on the egg yet?" I asked after a while. Sam frowned.

"Well, I've been thinking about what it sounds like. And I've got nothing. Except a banshee, and those things aren't that hard to fight. Unless there's a lot of them."

"Well, Neville thought it sounded like somebody being tortured. Maybe you have to fight some evil curse or something."

"They wouldn't do that," Sam said. I shrugged.

"They made you pass a dragon, didn't they?"

I heard a clunking and saw Moody limping over toward us. I frowned as he stopped beside us and we stopped dancing.

"Need help with that egg?" he asked Sam in a very quiet voice as Harry and Ginny danced by. I winked at Harry as he caught my eye, be he responded by merely glaring at me. Ginny, however, looked simply ecstatic. Sam merely stared at Moody, and I pretended to not be paying attention. "Take a _bath_."

"Because you stink. Terribly," I said to Sam jokingly. When Moody shot me a glare, I knew that he wasn't in the mood.

"Not a shower – a _bath_," he continued, otherwise ignoring my interruption. "Sneak into the Prefects bathroom, fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. The password's 'pine fresh.' Go within the next week. It'll help you...mull things over. And then don't forget to make sure that Potter gets it – he _is_ your friend, isn't he?" He clunked away without waiting for an answer or any reply as Hermione and Krum passed us again.

"That was weird," Sam said, staring after him.

"I'd take that bath tonight. You stink." Sam shoved me lightly but smiled nonetheless. "But that was weird advice. How's a bath going to help you?"

"I don't know," Sam said thoughtfully. "But I guess I'll figure it out."

"Maybe it has something to do with water," I said.

"Maybe something with the lake," Sam suggested.

"Urgh," I said, shuddering. "I don't like deep water like that. Let's just hope that it has nothing to do with the lake."

"Well, it's not like _you're _the one who has to do the task anyway," Sam pointed out. I shrugged just as the song ended.

Sam and I walked over to Draco and Katie together, who were both still pink in the face and looked as if they were arguing. As it turns out, they were having a disagreement over _Quidditch_. Katie thought that Puddlemere United was the best team while Draco thought the Falmouth Falcons were. I had no favorite, but if I had to choose I would probably choose the Harpies.

"It's definitely Puddlemere," Sam said. "At least, out of those two."

"Didn't Oliver Wood join that team?" I asked.

"The reserve," Sam corrected. "The _best _team, however, is either the Montrose Magpies or Pride of Portree. The Falcons are _evil_."

"I kinda like the Falcons' motto," I said jokingly, swinging into the seat beside Draco. "'Let us win, but if we cannot win, let us break a few heads!' That definitely fits you. If you go into Professional Quidditch, _definitely _join that team," I added to Draco. "And _you_," I said, turning to Sam, "you only like the Magpies and the Prides because they are good."

"Although I don't like them," Sam said, ignoring my comment, "the Tutshill Tornadoes are going to win sometime soon. They're making a comeback."

"You know which team will _never_ win?" Katie said.

"The Cannons," Sam, Draco, and I all said at the same time. I smiled.

"_Exactly_," Katie agreed, nodding.

"Well, you never know," Sam said. "Maybe hundreds of years from now they will be. When they have completely different players." We spent the rest of the time discussing Quidditch and debating over who was going to win what game instead of dancing. However, I _did _notice Harry and Ginny dancing for a long time. Harry actually seemed to be enjoying it. When at long last, midnight came, Sam and Katie left together while Draco and I left together. When we reached the bottom of the marble staircase, I stopped and turned to him. But before I could speak, he did.

"Now what kind of date would I be if I didn't walk you back to your Common Room? I'm fairly certain I know at least the general area."

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Where is it?"

"Somewhere on the seventh floor." I smiled.

"Well, yeah. You can just drop me off at the top of the stairs, okay?"

"Well – "

"It's not far from our Common Room. I promise." Draco seemed to consider it before he finally sighed and said,

"Alright."

We walked the stairs in silence. Almost everybody had already reached their Common Rooms, but a few people were still standing here and there on the stairs or walking in the corridors. It wasn't until we reached the top of the marble staircase that I turned to Draco and asked,

"So, is it official then?" He seemed taken aback.

"Is _what_ official?" I rolled my eyes.

"_Us_. Are _we _official? " He frowned, seemingly confused, for a moment while he stared blankly at me before he finally replied,

"I don't know. You tell me. Are we official?" I paused, staring at him in consideration for a moment before I smiled slightly.

"Yeah," I replied, nodding. "Yeah, I think we are." Draco smiled back at me and said,

"Good, 'cause I thought so too." And then, almost before I could realize what was happening, he leaned forward and put his lips gently against mine. The kiss only lasted a second, but it felt like an eternity that I stood there, too shocked to do anything, before he finally leaned back, smiled at my bewildered expression, said, "Goodnight," and walked back downstairs.

But when he reached the sixth floor, he turned around one final time and winked at me. I smiled, and winked back.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! _Please?_ Constructive criticism is appreciated! **


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks Duskfire1954 and Orochi Peach for the reviews!**

**Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry that it's been so long! I didn't realize how long it had been until recently. Plus I've been busy. And also, the more reviews I get, the faster I update. *hint hint* So review! Where are you, my dear other reviewers? I miss you! Come back! **

**And I will already admit that this isn't the best chapter. But I had to have a way to transition it into the next few chapters, and this was it. But it's still not too good, even after rereading it and rereading it over and over to try to make it better. Any who, on to the new chapter! **

Chapter 26

"Hey Harry!" I called down the corridor. There was no mistaking that messy black head. "Harry!" Harry spun around and, once he saw me, waited for me to catch up with him. Once I did, I asked, "Did you have fun tonight?"

"Actually, I did. Ginny's cooler than I thought she was, and dancing isn't so bad."

"See? I told you! Where is Ginny, anyway?"

"Oh, she went ahead with Ron to try to talk some sense into him. He's all pissed off because Hermione went with Krum. Says she's 'fraternizing with the enemy'."

"I think he's just jealous," I said. Harry stared at me, seeming shocked and confused.

"Of _Hermione_? Are you saying that Ron is – is – ?" 

"_No!_" I exclaimed, but I couldn't help and laugh slightly. "I'm saying he's jealous of _Krum_. Have you ever noticed how Hermione and Ron fight like a married couple _all the time? _Does it ever make you think that, you know, they _like _each other – as more than friends, that is?" Harry stared at me still, his mouth slightly open. Then, he suddenly nodded.

"Yeah, yeah I think you're right," he said slowly. "I've just never thought about it."

"Of course I'm right," I joked, "I'm _always_ right." Harry laughed and pushed me lightly. I smiled at him.

"You know, you know an awful lot of things for only being a second year," he said.

"Well I know _everything_," I said sarcastically as we approached the portrait hole. "Great," I muttered, noticing that the Fat Lady and her friend Vi were asleep. "Hello?" I said politely, trying to wake them up. When they didn't, even after more poking and prodding from Harry and I, I eventually got fed up and yelled, "Fairly Lights!" They both jerked awake from the sudden noise.

"Was there a need to yell?" Vi asked irritably as the portrait swung open. I heard them say a few more choice words as the portrait slammed shut behind Harry and I. I rolled my eyes, ignored Ron and Hermione's huge fight in the Common Room, threw a wink to Harry, who seemed to get what I was saying for the first time, and marched up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. About halfway up the stairs, I realized for the first time how tired I really was. I opened the door to the dormitory quietly, but I needn't have been so quiet, for –

"You're back!"

Addison and Adelaide had stayed up waiting, and Romilda and Emily must not have been able to sleep because they were up too and were shooting glares at the twins.

Addison grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the room, slamming the door behind me, before I could even realize what was going on. I was shoved into a sitting position on the nearest bed – was it Addison's? I couldn't remember at the moment. I was too damn tired – and the questions began instantly.

"How was it?"

"Who did everybody go with?"

"How was Malfoy?"

It wasn't until I had heard at least ten more questions that I said quickly,

"I won't ever be able to answer _any _of those questions if you don't give me some time to talk." They shut up immediately. I sighed and laid back on the bed. "How about I tell you in the morning? I'm tired."

"Yeah, so are Emily and I," Romilda snapped. The twins and I glared at her, but none of us said a thing to her.

Addison sighed.

"Fine. But you have to tell us _everything _in the morning."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

So, that's what I did. As soon as we were all up in the morning, I told them. Romilda was there too. She listened while she glared at the three of us – mostly me, of course – probably because she still resented me since _I _got to go to the ball with Draco when I didn't even want to, while she _did _want to and she didn't get to.

But, well, I didn't tell them _nearly _everything. I told them everything but one thing. One rather _big_ thing. And I didn't plan on telling them. Except...

"He kissed you, didn't he?"

Addison, Adelaide, and I spun to face Romilda. She looked even angrier than ever. Wait...I thought I was a good liar. Sam and I had inherited it from Dad. Riley, on the other hand, must have gotten Father's acting skills. Anyway, I was a good liar – how did Romilda know?

"What makes you say that?" I asked, pretending to be confused. Romilda rolled her eyes and sat fully up, leaning toward us.

"I have five sisters and two brothers. That's more kids than there are in the Weasley family." I narrowed my eyes, confused – Romilda had _seven_ siblings? How did I not know this? However, after the shock wore off, all I could think was, _There's more of them? _"They've all graduated from Hogwarts, and they're _all _sluts and whores."

"Wonder where you get it from?" Addison muttered to Adelaide and I. Romilda must have heard, however, as her most dangerous glares were now directed toward Addison.

"Anyways, since they're all sluts and whores, I know the _look_."

"What look?"

"The look after you've just been kissed, idiot!" she snapped. "So, you can either fess up, or keep denying it. But I know the truth. And if you don't fess up, don't think I won't go telling the whole school – _including _the person that you want to know the least." I knew who that person was instantly. Romilda paused. "Actually, even if you _do _fess up, I'm going to tell that person, and then everybody will know" she said, smiling mischievously at me. And, of course, she got up and marched right out of the room.

"Don't listen to her," Addison said. She must have noticed me restraining myself from attacking Romilda as she walked by. "She's just a stuck-up snob."

"She's jealous because _she _wanted to go with Malfoy, I heard her telling Emily the other day," Adelaide agreed.

"Nobody will believe her."

I didn't say anything. I knew who she had gone to first, and this wasn't going to be pretty.

"Come on," Adelaide said, "let's go downstairs. The boys will be waiting for you." I just realized that I hadn't even given David, Sean, and Troy a second thought since I had last seen them the night before, but I still wasn't thinking about them as I headed down the stairs to the Common Room, dreading what was coming when I reached it.

But, luckily, it was empty. Completely. Not a single person was there.

"Everybody must be at breakfast." I followed behind them silently as we made our way down to the first floor. All my will was forced into hoping that Romilda was lying, that she wasn't going to tell that person, or the whole school, for that matter.

The first person I saw in the Great Hall was David. He was sitting nearby, talking to Sean and Troy. They noticed me and waved me over, but I quickly shook my head and headed toward the person I was most afraid of knowing, and Romilda knew it – Samson Regulus Black-Lupin. My own brother.

He was sitting by Katie and across from Lee. But he didn't seem upset, or angry in any way. On the contrary, he seemed really ecstatic about something. As I approached them wearily, Sam noticed me and jumped up, running up to me.

"Cat! Guess what?" All I could do was stare at him as he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward where he was sitting, pushing me down and sitting between Katie and I.

"What?" I asked wearily.

"I figured the egg out! That hint that Moody gave me – well, I followed through with it late last night." He glanced around and lowered his voice. "When you opened the egg underwater, it said, 'come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground, and while you're searching ponder this, we've taken what you'll surely miss. An hour long you have to look and recover what we took, but past an hour – the prospect's black. Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.' They're going to take something from each champion and put it in the lake and we have an hour to find it, or we won't get it back!"

"So you have to find a way to stay underwater for an hour," I said, shivering at the thought. I hated deep waters.

"Yep, and you're lucky it's not you. You hate deep water."

"Do you know how to?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Stay underwater for an hour? Sure. The Bubble-Head charm. It's simple and we just learned it in Charms last month, so I know for sure how to do it. I'm going to see if Harry's figured it out yet later, and if not I'm going to help. But I'm confused on one thing – what could they take from me? I'm not really that, you know, _possessive _over anything."

"Mhmm," I muttered distractedly. Why was I distracted, you might ask. Well, Romilda had just come into the Great Hall with Emily, and she had the nastiest smile on her face. She waved jokingly to me as they made their way toward the middle of the Gryffindor table, where the two of them sat down without talking to anybody else.

"Cat? You okay?"

"Fine," I said quietly. "Hey, I'll see ya later." Without waiting for a reply, I got up and headed down the Hall toward David, Sean, and Troy, completely ignoring Romilda and Emily as I passed them. But that smile from Romilda that I saw out of the corner of my eyes was not pleasant.

Halfway down the table, I noticed Fred and George sitting across from one another. For the first time since before I could remember, they weren't talking to each other, and were instead staring at their plates in obviously awkward silence. I was surprised that half the Hall hadn't noticed by now, but they all seemed to preoccupied with the newspaper. I wondered if what I thought was going on really was.

I slid into the seat next to Fred.

"Hey guys."

Neither one said anything back or acknowledged me in any way.

"Hey Fred, I have a question for you." Fred looked up silently. "You like Riley, right?" George looked at his twin quietly.

"As a friend? Of course." I noticed Fred's cheeks turning steadily redder.

"No, no, I meant as _more _than a friend." Fred quickly shook his head, opening his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. "And George, you like Angelina in the same way Fred likes Riley, right?" I asked, turning to George. His cheeks turned red too, and Fred stared at him open mouthed. I smiled. "Riley likes Fred, who likes her, and Angelina likes George, who likes her. The only problem is, Fred is dating Angelina while George is dating Riley. There seems to be an easy way to fix this, is there not?"

I left them staring after me with open mouths and wide eyes as I finally went to sit with Sean, Troy, and David.

"About time you came to sit with us!" Sean exclaimed. "I thought that you had blown us off."

"What?" I asked jokingly. "Me? Blow you guys off? _Never_."

"Why does Romilda keep shooting that creepy smile of hers down here?" Troy asked suddenly. I frowned and looked down the table at Romilda, who smiled even wider when she saw me looking and winked at me. I glared back and her and wanted nothing more than to punch that pretty little face of hers.

"Did she just _wink _at you?" David asked me. I frowned even more as I turned back to him.

"She's mad at me."

"Again?" Troy asked as David and Sean asked,

"Why?"

"Because _I _went to the ball with Draco when _she _wanted to."

"So now he's _Draco_, huh?" Sean asked. I shrugged.

"I can't very well go around calling my date by his last name, can I?"

"So how was the ball?" David asked. So, once again, I launched into nearly the full story – that is, I left out the same thing. As soon as I had finished, Addison and Adelaide came rushing over, waving the newspaper.

"Did you guys see this yet?" Addison asked, pushing it into my face. I read:

DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE

I quickly read through the whole thing. Apparently, just because Hagrid's mother was a giantess, Dumbledore was making a "giant" (notice the pun on the words) mistake by employing him as Gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Pansy Parkinson had a hand in the article ("My friend Draco Malfoy got attacked by a hippogriff and Vincent Crabbe got bit by a flobberworm," says Pansy Parkinson, a fourth year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything.") Draco better be glad that Pansy said that and _he _didn't.

I frowned.

"What a load of dragon dung!" I yelled, throwing it onto the table. "We don't care if Hagrid's mother was a giantess."

"Not everybody's going to agree with that, you know." I spun around to see Draco behind me, squeezing in to sit beside me and David, who stared at him awkwardly, scooting slightly away. "I'll be honest – I had a hand in helping write this article." I rose my eyebrows, but he said quickly, "Hey, at least I'm being honest! I regret it now! Anyway, even _I _don't have a problem with Hagrid. But many of the Slytherins do, and parents might once they see this."

I was suddenly aware that basically the whole school was staring at us, probably thinking, _"Abbey's actually being civil to Draco? What are we missing here?" _Apparently, they were all too busy to notice during the ball. Sam was staring at Draco through narrowed eyes, although they seemed to be a lot kinder than they would be if he hadn't spent the time talking to the two of us and Katie the night before at the ball.

I noticed Angelina and Riley now sitting with Fred and George, all of whom were now staring at us as well. I could guarantee that Draco noticed them staring and whispering as well, but he acted as though he didn't.

"That Skeeter woman will do anything to get people to read her articles," Draco continued. "Lying, making the most ridiculous stuff up, and making things seem a whole lot worse than they are. She doesn't care. A cow, that's all she is," he said somberly. I frowned.

"I'd bet you anything that Hagrid got upset because of that article," I said. "He's probably overreacting, locking himself in his hut down there because he thinks that he's a terrible person. We'll have to stop by after class to talk to him and tell him that nobody cares – that is, _if _he'll let us in."

It was _then _that Romilda and Emily walked by. Romilda must have noticed me looking over the paper again, for she whispered to me as she passed,

"Looks like you're looking at who I already told."

That's what it took for me to understand – she had told Rita Skeeter.

**A/N: Okay, so I just realized that the article didn't come out till the first day of the new term. Bear with me here – this is going to be the day after the ball _and _the first day of term, now. It wouldn't work out otherwise, and I'm _not _rewriting the whole thing to get it to work. Sorry for any confusion and thanks for understanding!**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to christie and Krelseybell for the reviews! **

**Oh my goodness! Sorry that this took so long, I've had a _LOT _going on, but I'm not dead, I promise! Updates may be slow for a while, though. Sorry! But I have a lot going on, especially in school. It sucks, but that's jut how it is! Once again, sorry!**

**Okay, I'm going to say this once and for all (there should be no big spoilers here), REMUS AND TONKS WILL _NOT _GET TOGETHER! The only good thing that came out of that was Teddy – who will not ever exist in this story either. Sorry, I know, I like him too! It just doesn't work in this story at all. As for if there will be "death by drapery" in this story – you'll just have to wait and see! **

Chapter 27

"Hey! Abbey!"

"What?" I snapped. "Isn't it obvious that I'm about to go to bed?"

"Sorry," Fred apologized quickly. He walked up to me, pulling Riley along with him – they were holding hands. It was a common occurrence anymore, and I thought nothing of it. Since Fred and Riley and George and Angelina had gotten together, I had gotten used to it. They had actually gotten together on Riley's birthday, January 24th, which was a little later than I had expected, but they had refused to accept it. "But McGonagall wants you."

"Why?" I grumbled, rubbing my eyes. It was late, and I had just spent a good several hours in the library trying to finish a difficult potions essay. Even with Draco trying to help me (the gossip about the two of us had _finally _died down), I was sure I had failed it. I swear, I got worse and worse at potions every freaking day. Just another reason for Snape to pick on me, David and Sean thought. I couldn't agree more.

"Dunno," Riley said.

"She looked a bit grim, though," Fred pitched in. "Asked for Ron and Hermione too. George and Angelina are off fetching them. We're supposed to take you to her office." I groaned as I turned to follow them out of the Common Room and to McGonagall's office, more than half asleep.

About halfway there, we crossed the path of Ron, Hermione, George, and Angelina. Both Ron and Hermione looked extremely anxious, and glanced curiously at me as they walked beside me.

"What are you here for?" Ron asked. I shrugged.

"Dunno. You?"

"No idea."

When we reached McGonagall's office, Fred knocked, and when McGonagall let us in – Fred and Riley were right, for she did, indeed, look quite grim – the twins, Riley, and Angelina left, leaving Ron, Hermione and I with McGonagall. She beckoned us into her office, and we followed slowly.

"Sit down, would you?" she asked, motioning to the three chairs facing her desk that I hadn't noticed earlier. I saw Ron and Hermione exchange a bewildered glance, but they sat down. I followed suit, sitting down beside Ron very slowly, still with no idea of what was going on and why we were stuck there. I thought maybe it had to do with the number of detentions I had had with Snape – but then why were Ron and Hermione here too? It didn't make sense.

"Professor – " Hermine started, but McGonagall held up a hand to silence her.

"Let me speak first, Miss Granger," she instructed. Hermione fell silent immediately. "Now, this is really important – no, it does _not _have to do with your amount of detentions with Professor Snape, Miss Black-Lupin." How did she know that was what I was thinking? "Although we do need to talk about that. Anyway, I assume that you all know what the clue in the champions golden egg was? And what the Second Task is?"

We all nodded slowly, still confused.

"Well, the possession that the champions will surely miss is the person dearest to them." I understood instantly. They were going to hand us over to the mermaids. But I _hated _deep waters. This was not going to be easy for me.

But wait...

"But how does Harry have two people?" Ron asked, confused and voicing one of the exact things I was thinking of. "I mean, Sam only has one, and he even has two sisters to choose from."

"Yeah, and how did you pick me over Riley and Katie?" 

"Mr Weasley, Mr Potter has only one hostage. Miss Granger is Durmstrang champion _Viktor Krum's_ hostage." I noticed Hermione's face turn pink, and Ron purposefully avoided her gaze. "And Miss Black-Lupin, we have had observants notice that your brother seems to be more – _possessive _over you than your sister and Miss Bell, and probably closer to you as well."

"So what – you're just going to _hand _us over to these mer-mer_things _to drown us?" Ron asked.

"No, we're going to put you in an enchanted sleep. When your head gets above the water, you will wake up again."

"So wait," Ron said suddenly, sounding frightened slightly, "if our – person – doesn't save us before our head comes above the water, we – we're _dead_?"

"Do you honestly think Professor Dumbledore would let that happen?" Hermione scoffed. Though I knew that I could trust Sam, what Ron had said had frightened me too. But Hermione had a point. Even if the other judges wanted to, Dumbledore would never _ever_ allow that to happen.

"No, Mr. Weasley, Professor Dumbledore wouldn't allow that," McGonagall said matter-of-factly. She pulled out her wand and asked, "Are you all ready?" We nodded slowly. She said the charm, and I felt like I was falling asleep...

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The first breath above the water felt like the "breath of life", as I had heard it called. The first thing I became aware of was that the crowds around the edge of the lake were going crazy. Were Sam and I the first back, or what? I tried to shake water out of my ear as Sam grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the shallower water.

The next thing I realized was that I had no recollections of what had happened since McGonagall's office. Was that part of the charm? She hadn't told us that, although I should have figured it.

"We're the first back," Sam explained. We had reached the water where even I could touch and he was pulling me out of the lake toward the judges, away from the stands where the students were seated. "Harry was already down there, playing hero like usual, waiting for everybody else to show up. I told him that they wouldn't let anybody get hurt, but he didn't seem to believe me."

"What's Percy doing here?" I asked randomly, noticing that Percy was there again instead of Mr. Crouch. Madam Pomfrey rushed over and shoved nice, thick blankets around either of us and a hot potion down our throat, causing steam to come out of our ears. I also noticed, while she fussed over Sam and I, that Madam Maxime was holding back Fleur Delacour, who was fighting tooth and nail to get back into the water. What was she doing out already? Who could be that important to that snotty girl that she would fight that hard to save?

"Gabrielle! Gabrielle!" she screamed at me – Madam Pomfrey was still fussing over Sam. "Is she alive? Is she 'urt? Did you see 'er?"

"Who's Gabrielle?" I asked, confused.

"My seester, of course!" she yelled. "The young one down zere! Did you see 'er?"

"Well, I was in an enchanted sleep, so no, I didn't see her. But I doubt that she's hurt," I replied.

"No! Zey are going to keel 'er! It was ze grindylows, zey attacked me!"

"No, they won't," I explained, "Professor Dumbledore wouldn't let that happen. Besides, Harry's down there playing hero like usual, he won't leave without her if you don't show up." Apparently, that didn't help. The crowd erupted in cheers again, and I saw Krum and Hermione's heads appear out of the water.

It was a few minutes later, while Sam was explaining to me what had happened and what the mermaids looked like, that I saw Harry, Ron, and a little girl – Gabrielle Delacour, probably – appear out of the water in nearly the same spot as Krum and Hermione. The crowd erupted in cheers yet again as they swam closer. Percy rushed forward and grabbed Ron, Dumbledore and Bagman pulled Harry to his feet, and Fleur was now hugging her sister.

Once the scores were tallied, Fleur got a sixty-two, Krum an eighty, Harry an eighty-five, and Sam an eighty-five as well. Since Harry had been the first to find the hostages and had shown his "moral fiber" and "determination" he had gotten 45 out of fifty points – only Karkaroff believed that he didn't deserve full marks, and what else do you expect?

I started to walk back toward the castle with Sam until Katie caught up with us, and I let him go ahead with her. I was about halfway to the castle when I heard somebody calling my name after me. I turned around and saw David, Sean, and Troy running to catch up with me.

"Hey, Malfoy was looking for you," was the first thing David said when they caught up with me. I yawned and looked around, making sure that he wasn't nearby somewhere.

"Oh well, I'll catch up with him later," I said, shrugging.

"He was literally freaking out when nobody could find you this morning," Sean said earnestly, although he was snickering slightly. I shrugged again.

"Isn't that what he's supposed to do?" I asked. "I mean, come on, I'm his girlfriend, what is he supposed to do?" 

"That's what I've been telling them!" Troy exclaimed. "But they wouldn't listen to me! Just kept on laughing." He shook his head as David and Sean started snickering again and said, exasperated, "See? Oh come on! You guys need to grow up!" I laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Too true, Troy," I replied.

"So what was the lake like?" Sean asked. I shrugged.

"Wet."

"No duh," David said, "but like – what were the mermaids like?"

"I dunno," I replied. "The hostages had some sort of sleeping charm on. The last thing I remember before coming up above the water was being in McGonagall's office before she put the charm on us. But I imagine that it's eerie down there, the mermaids, from pictures I've seen and from what Sam told me about them, are really creepy looking. He said they have green hair, gray skin, and yellow eyes."

"Abbey! _Abbey!_"

I turned around to see Draco pushing his way through the crowd toward us – and when I say pushing, I mean _pushing_. Anybody that was between me and him was likely to get shoved to the side so he could catch up faster. I waved to David, Sean, and Troy to go ahead without me and I stopped to wait for Draco to catch up.

"I've been looking all over for you!" he panted once he reached me. He looked about to pull me into a hug, but then he realized that I was still slightly wet and held me at arms length instead.

"Afraid to get a little wet?" I joked. Draco tried to look indignant.

"No!" he lied. I rose my eyebrows in disbelief, and he sighed, dropping his hands from my shoulder and starting for the castle again. I followed suit. "Alright, fine," he grumbled. "You know me too well."

"You're one to talk," I replied. "You knew everything about me before we even started dating! Which, by the way, you still haven't told me how you knew all of that."

"I didn't know _everything_," Draco said. I noticed that he seemed to be purposefully avoiding my question of how he knew. "Like – er..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say. I rolled my eyes as we walked into the Great Hall for lunch. Draco stopped in the doorway. "Hey, what do you say that you sit at our table for lunch today?" I stared at him blankly.

"You can't be serious," I said. Draco shrugged.

"Come on, I sit with your friends all the time."

"I probably won't make it out alive," I replied.

"Sure you will," he said. "They won't hurt anybody without me telling them to."

"That's nice to know, but I'm sorry, my answer is still no. It's just – not the same as you sitting at our table. I'll probably get murdered if I go anywhere _near _your table, whether it's from your obnoxious friends or from some other Slytherins – like Bradley or Grant or Duke."

"No, they won't." I shrugged slowly.

"Who's stopping them?"

"I will!"

I shook my head. "One against – against the rest of Slytherin? I don't think so. I'm sorry, I really am – "

Draco sighed. "Fine," he muttered. I couldn't help but notice that he looked pretty – very – upset, so I mentally cursed myself as I said,

"Alright, fine, I'll sit at your table – tomorrow, at lunch, okay?"

"You don't have to – "

"I want to," I lied.

"No you don't."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm going to anyways." Draco smiled at me, knowing that I had already made up my mind and it wouldn't change.

"Alright." We departed for our separate tables. I sat down next to Troy, who scooted down a bit to make more room for me. Down the table, Romilda glared at me. So far, her hope of sabotaging me by telling Rita Skeeter loads of dragon dung about me had failed. Maybe, if I was lucky, it would stay that way.

Many people down the table were staring at me. I knew why, for they were staring at Ron and Hermione too – they probably wanted to know exactly what had happened down in the lake. Sam was sitting down the table from us with Katie across from him. Fleur was standing behind him talking to him. I caught her saying,

"You must understand what I was feeling, I mean, your seester was down zere too."

"Yeah," Sam muttered, obviously trying to get rid of her. But she didn't seem to get the point.

It seemed that Hogwarts was back to normal. Well, at least, as normal as Hogwarts gets. For now.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to Krelseybell and Peanutfreak for the reviews! (Peanutfreak, don't feel lame! I understand! And yes, that connection _was _intentional, although I realize that they really haven't been acting as much as the Marauders as you might have expected. Anyway, thanks for the review!)**

**So, the Superbowl's on! Who's your team? I prefer the Packers, but I'm personally more excited about the new Glee episode on afterward! Anyway, enjoy the Superbowl!**

Chapter 28

I could hear Draco threatening his friends all the way across the Great Hall. I was not looking forward to this, but I knew that I would have to eventually. We _had _been dating for two months now, anyway – _exactly _two months, I noticed suddenly. I wondered if Draco realized it. Considering I almost didn't, I really didn't care if he remembered or not.

"Why are you just standing there?" David asked, sounding confused. I frowned, watching Draco force Crabbe to move to the other side of the table to make room for me beside him. "Are you going to sit down or not?" Somehow, Draco didn't notice me watching. I shook my head slowly.

"No, I'm going to sit with Draco today."

"Are you crazy?" Sean asked. "You can't sit at the Slytherin table! They'll kill you – especially Parkinson!"

"She can handle herself," Troy said distractedly. "Have you seen how Romilda hates her, but she holds her own? She'll be fine. Besides, if any of them hurt her, Draco will kill them."

"You too?" Sean asked dramatically. "You can't start calling a _Slytherin _by his first name! They're our enemies!"

"Oh, grow up," I muttered.

"Hey." I jumped at the sound of a voice right behind me, and I spun around to see Draco behind me, smirking at me.

"Shut up," I mumbled.

"Right," he replied. "You coming?"

"Sure am." I left the three boys staring after me as I followed Draco across the Great Hall to the Slytherin table. Halfway across the Hall, Draco snuck his hand into mine, intertwining our fingers.

"Happy anniversary," he whispered quietly in my ear so only I could hear. I smiled up at him.

"I didn't think you would remember." He pretended to look shocked – or maybe he really was, I couldn't tell.

"_Me_? Forget our anniversary?_ Never_." I smiled and shook my head at him.

We had now reached where his "gang", as Sean called them, sat at the Slytherin table. Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise Zambini sat across from where Draco sat down, pulling me onto the seat beside him.

"Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, this is Abbey – Abbey, this is Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise." I wondered why he called Crabbe and Goyle by their last name, but Blaise – it was going to like that in my head since that's what Draco called him – by his first, but didn't ask. Blaise held out his hand politely (Could Slytherins actually be polite? Wait, I change my question – could any Slytherins beside Draco be polite to a Gryffindor) which I shook. Crabbe and Goyle merely nodded at me. I tried to smile sweetly at them, but it probably came off as the forced smile that it was.

"Have you guys heard the rumors that Crouch isn't really sick?" Blaise asked conversationally. He had a copy of the _Prophet_ that he was reading. The headline read _Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch._

"Are people just now figuring this out?" I asked, glaring disgustedly at the photograph of Crouch that was on the front page of the paper.

"Do you have something against Crouch?" Goyle asked. Even Draco looked confused.

"Yes," I said angrily, still glaring at the photo. "I do have something against him." When I didn't elaborate, Crabbe asked,

"What?"

"He's the one that sent my father to Azkaban without a trial." Granted, it wasn't only him – Lucius Malfoy had passed money to other Ministry Officials to help it happen, but nonetheless, it was mostly Crouch's fault. "I mean, I know that money passed hands from some people," at the words _some people _I rose my eyebrows at Draco, who looked immediately shameful of his father's past actions, "to Ministry Officials to help it, but still, it's mostly Crouch's fault."

"I take it Lucius was the one who paid to have him thrown in Azkaban despite the fact that he knew he wasn't a Death Eater," Blaise said, noticing me and Draco's silent exchange. I nodded mutely.

"But you didn't seem to hate Crouch before," Draco said, obviously trying to ease the awkwardness.

"Oh, I didn't," I replied, "I just found out what he did this morning." At their confused glances, I sighed impatiently. "I'm allowed to write to my fathers, aren't I? We have been talking about Crouch lately, and neither of them think that he's just 'sick'. Father knows him pretty well, and he's not the type to skip work even if he was sick. Back during the war, he made it legal for Aurors to do very crude things against those believed to be Voldemort's supporters." They all flinched at his name – well, Draco didn't, because he was used to it, but the others did – but they didn't say anything.

"Then why hasn't he been showing up?" Crabbe asked.

"That's the question, isn't it?" I replied, somewhat mysteriously. "Nobody knows. Read the paper, Blaise has it right there – even the Ministry and St. Mungo's don't know."

"But they never said they don't know," Goyle said, reading it over Blaise's shoulder. "It just says that they both refuse to say."

"They're just trying to make it seem like they know something," I responded, "when they actually don't. They don't want it to seem like they don't know anything – obviously – so they're denying comments to make people think that they _do _know."

"You seem to know a lot about him," Crabbe said, sounding suspicious as he read the paper over Blaise's shoulder as well.

"I'm just very close to my dads," I replied. "They tell me and my brother and sister everything if we ask. At least, Father will."

"Which one's that again? Black or Lupin?" Draco asked. He still hadn't gotten the hang of the Father and Dad thing yet.

"Father is Black, Dad is Lupin."

"Black really is innocent, then?" Goyle asked suddenly. I stared at him, slightly taken aback, when Blaise said,

"Of course he is, you git, the Minister and four respectable Aurors were there." Crabbe and Goyle frowned – dang, even Marshal Duke and Kevin Grant weren't thick enough to think that Father wasn't innocent. It's not like he could have Confounded all five of them, plus Dumbledore, Dad, and six children. "Honestly, you'd think even _you _would be smart enough to realize that one person couldn't Confound them all and everybody else that witnessed it." Crabbe shrugged.

"Well, you never know." Blaise and Draco sighed, exasperated, and rolled their eyes, but said nothing more to Crabbe and Goyle. Blaise checked his watch suddenly and made to stand up.

"It's getting late, and I have that stupid Arithmancy paper due tomorrow that I need to do still. I'll see you all around."

"See ya," Draco said distractedly. Blaise left.

"I have to get going too," I said, "I promised Addison and Adelaide that I'd help them with a Defense homework assignment today after lunch, and I just saw them leave."

"Alright," Draco replied.

"I'll catch up with you later," I said, standing up and leaving the Great Hall.

On my way up to the Common Room, I opened one of the shortcuts that I always took up there. I was shocked, however, to find –

"Riley! Fred!" I yelled, alerting them of my presence, and the two jumped apart instantly, noticing me for the first time. Fred smiled at me, as though I hadn't just caught him snogging my sister, but Riley turned bright red and looked down at her feet, obviously highly embarrassed.

"Hey there, Cat, what's up?" Fred asked, still smiling, although I noticed his face turning steadily pinker. I narrowed my eyes at him for a moment, glanced at Riley, who was still staring at her feet, and said,

"Nothing. Just – I don't want to see that again." I shivered, trying to wipe the image from my mind, as I hurried away.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The next week led into March without much happening. The next full moon was the first, and I was in my usual grumpy mood that day. I caught Fred and Riley snogging again, and I told them off, and then I got a detention from Snape for cursing Pansy Parkinson for making fun of Hagrid and then smirking at me for no reason that I could think of – all before breakfast even started.

"It was worth it," I muttered to Draco as he joined me outside the Great Hall before breakfast, his eyebrows risen so high they were almost hidden in his hairline. "Besides, that's old news."

"I wasn't going to say anything," he replied. I later ended up snapping on him for making fun of Ron – something I should be used to by now – and almost got another detention from Snape. I still hadn't even entered the Great Hall for breakfast.

When I finally entered the Great Hall, I noticed a lot of people staring at me. However, many were staring at Riley and Sam as well. The two were sitting across from each other at the far end of the table, their heads together. I wondered what was going on, but didn't bother to ask them as I slid in next to Troy. However, he, David, and Sean were watching me with concern and apprehension. At first, I thought it was because they knew it was a full moon that night, but then I realized that they had never looked at me like this before.

"What?" I finally snapped, unable to ignore it.

"Have you seen the paper yet?" David asked tentatively.

"No. Why?" I barked. They all exchanged glances before Sean slid his copy across the table for me to read. I looked down at it, and one of the side headlines above a fairly long article jumped out at me.

_BLACK TROUBLES_

I quickly read on.

_You can't deny that Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were once one of the most popular couples, despite the fact that they were both guys, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. During the war, they both did a lot of work against You-Know-Who and his followers while managing a steady – or, so the Wizarding World all thought – home life with a toddler, infant, and another on the way. But when Sirius Black murdered – or, as he claims, was framed for murdering – a dozen Muggles and a wizard and handed his best friends, Lily and James Potter, over to You-Know-Who, their popularity fell._

_Just last year, Remus Lupin was appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban. By this time, all three of their children were enrolled in Hogwarts – Abigail was a first year, Riley a third year, and Samson a fifth year. It was later that same year that the public found out that Remus Lupin is a werewolf and that under Veritaserum and in front of five Aurors and the Minister himself, Sirius Black claimed that he was framed by Peter Pettigrew. He was freed of all charges and now is well on his way to becoming Head Auror for the Ministry._

_However, many people cannot be sure that this is the complete truth. Many witnesses still say that they saw Sirius Black murder Peter Pettigrew and those Muggles on that fateful Halloween years ago, yet somehow Pettigrew was there and managed to escape Aurors the next day. Was it really Pettigrew, or someone pretending to be him? Was that real Veritaserum? Is Dumbledore trying to pull one over the Minister's head? Or is he not part of it? Whatever it is, Harry Potter, Sirius Black's Godson, is now living with them and could be in grave danger there. Several people, including students at the school, believe it to be the entire family plotting this – the children included._

"_They get really moody around full moons," a second-year student named Romilda Vane says. Romilda Vane shares a dormitory with Abigail, the youngest Black-Lupin. "Of course, it could be because they're half-werewolf, but we all highly doubt that." _

"_Riley is very close to Harry," Pansy Parkinson, a pretty fourth-year in the same year as the two claims. "One of his best friends. Many of us believe her to be acting to get close to him under her father's orders."_

_Samson, the oldest child, is one of the Hogwarts champions in the Triwizard Tournament, but he was not yet seventeen when they had to enter. He claims that Dumbledore allowed him, but who's to say that this is true?_

_There's no denying that the three are quite the catch for any lucky student. They obviously got their fathers' looks, each one of them very pretty or handsome, But it seems that they manipulate other great catches at Hogwarts just to hurt them. Samson dated a very pretty girl from Durmstrang there for the Tournament, Veronica Angeleno, but then used her and dumped her just a few weeks later. Abigail manipulated Draco Malfoy to go to the Yule Ball with her._

"_He definitely deserves better than her," Pansy Parkinson, who is in Malfoy's class, says. "She's vial and cruel and pathetic."_

_Who's to say what Riley is going to do to Fred Weasley, her boyfriend, or Samson to Katie Bell, his latest catch? But one thing is for sure – they, like their fathers, are not to be trusted._

When I finished reading, I clenched my hands into fists, smashing the parts of the paper that I was holding between them. I stared blankly at the black and white picture above it that I hadn't noticed before. It was the one that sat above the mantle in our house. It had been taken sometime over the summer – I was unable to remember when – of our entire family: Sam, Dad, Father, Harry, Riley, and I. How the hell had Rita Skeeter gotten it? There was no way Father or Dad would have given it to her.

But suddenly, that was the least of my problems.

I slammed the paper down on the table, causing everyone within the vicinity to jump at the sudden noise of my hands slamming onto the table. I saw Romilda Vane down the table smirking at me. At the Slytherin table, Pansy Parkinson didn't have the nerve to look at me, for fear that I would curse her again. Never before had I been so glad that I had cursed somebody.

Down the table, Sam and Riley were watching me apprehensively. Sean, David, and Troy had a similar look on their faces. At the Slytherin table, I saw Draco slowly put down a copy of the _Prophet _to watch me. Plus, about half of the Gryffindor table was watching me. But I just sat there, fuming, waiting.

Then, it happened. Romilda and Emily got up and left the Great Hall. I looked at the teachers, saw that they were all still there, and quickly followed them. I felt several pairs of eyes on me as I left and heard the whispers. But I was used to it, and I tried not to let it bother me.

I caught up with Romilda in the Entrance Hall, and I tapped her shoulder. She spun around, at first looking confused, and then her eyes widened in fear. But then, when I smiled a fake-sweet smile at her, she frowned in confusion again.

"Would you rather have a bloody nose, or a black eye?" I asked her, pretending to keep the sweetness in my voice. She could only stare at me. "Or both?" I suggested in the same voice. When she stared at me, moving her mouth slightly from fear, I brought my fist back and punched her right in the nose as hard as I could. I heard a _pop _and assumed I had broken her nose. She stepped backward as blood poured from her nose, and I brought my fist back again, this time punching her as hard as possible in her right eye.

"If I were you," I said in the same voice, "I wouldn't tell anybody that it was me, or you'll be sorry. Especially since I know where you sleep." I smiled sweetly again as she and Emily rushed off.

"What was that about?" a voice asked. I turned around and saw Fred and George standing on the stairs across from where Romilda and Emily had gone. Apparently, they had seen the whole thing, but hadn't bothered to stop me from punching Romilda. Shocked, I stared at them.

"You haven't read the paper yet?" They shook their heads, confused. "Oh, well you should. You'll understand. You especially, Fred." The two left for the Great Hall, obviously wondering what I was going on about. I thought about finding Romilda or waiting for Pansy to curse them, but decided not to and instead entered the Greta Hall again. Sam and Riley were still sitting alone. Fred and George were at the other end of the table, reading somebody's paper. I had a sudden idea, and I marched right up to them.

"Hey," I said, sliding into the seat beside George, "Rita Skeeter is staying in Hogsmeade, right?" They nodded, confused. "What's the best secret passageway to Hogsmeade?" Their faces lit up.

"The one beneath the one-eyed, humpback witch statue by the stairs to the Defense classroom," Fred answered. "Do you know which statue that I'm talking about?" I nodded.

"You just tap it with your wand and say _dissendium_ to get the hump to open and get into it," George explains. "It leads straight to Honeydukes cellar."

"And when is the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"This Saturday." I smiled.

"Great. Thanks."

I quickly caught up with Troy, David, and Sean, who were leaving the Great Hall, and asked,

"Who's up for sneaking into Hogsmeade Saturday to curse Rita Skeeter?"

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks nartyteek and Krelseybell for the reviews!**

**Ugh. It's been WAAAY too long. I apologize. I really don't have a reason for the delay, I've just been slow. Sorry! **

Chapter 29

"Abbey! You can't seriously be thinking of doing this! I thought you were kidding on Wednesday when you said you were sneaking into Hogsmeade!" Sean exclaimed. "You'll be expelled!"

"Since when do I _kid _on days right before the full moon?" I asked rudely. I was still in a foul mood despite the fact that the full moon was several days ago. It was now morning of the following Saturday, and I was headed toward the secret passageway to Hogsmeade the twins told me about, flanked by Sean, David, and Troy.

"_I _thought you were just overreacting _because _of the full moon!" David said, exasperated.

"Or because you were upset," Troy agreed, breathing heavily and jogging to catch up with us – he wasn't a very fast walker (or runner). "Of course you would say those things right away, but I didn't think you really meant them."

"Look," I snapped, stopping and turning around to face them. Sean and David stopped abruptly in front of me. I waited for Troy to catch up before I continued. "Who were the ones all excited about getting to go to Hogsmeade for the first time? Who were the ones looking forward to it? Who were the ones who wanted to stay and shop all day with no care in the world? _You guys_. Who just wanted to go, get their revenge on a stupid journalist, and leave? _Me._ Now stop telling me that I shouldn't go when _you _wanted to earlier and either come with me, or stay here." I saw them all exchange bewildered glances before Troy said,

"Well I'm staying. I'm sorry, Abbey, but I don't want to get expelled in my second year. Not only would my parents kill me, but I wouldn't know enough magic to make it out on my own when I'm of age and old enough to do magic outside of school."

"I'm with Troy," Sean said quickly. "It'd be fun, but not worth it." David hesitated, looking from Sean and Troy to me, trying to decide.

"Sorry, Abbey, but I – I can't. I mean – I _can_, but…but I don't want to be expelled – "

"Who said you'll be expelled?" I asked suddenly. "Even if you get caught, you're punishment won't be _that_ bad! You'll probably just get detention – you know, for the rest of the year, but it's just detention. Besides, it's not like you _will _get caught. You'll be with _me_, and I _never _get caught – " I saw their eyes suddenly widen, but didn't think much of it until –

"Miss Black-Lupin."

I was cut off. Quickly, I spun around to find myself face-to-face with Snape.

"Hello Professor," I said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"What are you four doing inside on a day like this?" he asked, sounding like he was almost up to something. I looked out the window and saw that he was right – it was a really nice day outside considering it had been frigid and snowing the past few weeks.

"We were just headed to – the library to finish our potions homework and study for the quiz tomorrow," I replied quickly before realizing that I was headed in the direction toward the Common Room, not library. "But I – I realized that I left my – my ink in the Common Room so I was just telling them that I was going to go back to get it."

"Move along, then," Snape said coldly. I turned back to Sean, David, and Troy, smiled slightly as a sign of farewell to them, and then took off down the corridor to the secret passageway. "_Leave_," I heard Snape sneer to them (they must not have left as quickly as I had) as I turned the corner at the end of the corridor.

I quickly made my way to the one-eyed witch statue in the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor, being sure to check each corridor for Snape or any other wandering teacher or students who might catch me sneaking out. As soon as I found the statue, I made sure the corridor was deserted before I tapped the hump with my wand and whispered, "_Dissendium_." Like Fred and George had promised it would, the hump opened up just enough to admit a small person and I quickly slipped inside headfirst – I really couldn't get in any other way. It was pretty awkward.

I slid down a stone slide and landed on what felt like damp earth. I stood up and brushed myself off. It was pitch black inside – and that was before I pulled the hump shut behind me. Even when I lit my wand, I could only see a few feet in front of me. I found myself in a low, narrow passageway. All I could see in the distance was pitch blackness.

I started off slowly. Each footstep I took echoed in the long passageway. The passageway twisted and turned hundreds of times. More often than not I was stumbling – even though I had feet that were the perfect size for my body, which was small, I wasn't very good on them.

I kept thinking over and over about what I was going to reach when I finally got there to keep myself busy, but my mind kept wandering. At one point, I let it wander to Draco for a while. Or, rather, Draco and I. I didn't know where our relationship was headed or what, exactly, was going on with it. We hung out all the time and got along really well, but we hadn't kissed since Christmas. Not that I had a problem with that, it just left me confused. I saw Sam and Katie and Fred and Riley kissing all the time in deserted corridors. I always walked in on them. Was it strange that Draco and I weren't like that? Granted, I'm younger than the others, but still.

It was the most boring thing _ever, _walking down this deserted passageway with only my mind for company, and all it was doing was convincing me that something was wrong with my relationship – was it even that? – with Draco.

It went on ages and ages and soon I was tempted to turn back. What was the point? I'm sure Riley and Sam had already gotten to Skeeter, anyway. But it wasn't the same – I wanted to curse her myself, not have somebody do it for me. I was tired by the time I noticed the passage begin to rise.

A few minutes later, I found myself at the bottom of some stone steps that rose out of sight up above me. How many were there? I couldn't tell. Was it really worth all of this? Yes, I decided as I started up the stone steps, it was worth it. I watched my feet and counted the stairs, but I lost count around what I would later guess was halfway up. Then, suddenly, my head hit something hard. I looked up and saw a trapdoor there. Slowly, I pushed it up and peered over the edge.

I was in a cellar full of boxes and crates – Honeydukes cellar, just like Fred and George had promised. I climbed out of the trapdoor and pushed it back down. I could hear voices and the opening and closing of a door as I made my way to a wooden staircase that led upstairs – how was I still downstairs after _all _of those stairs I had climbed?

I ducked up the stairs and out into Honeydukes – I had been there several times before with Dad so I recognized everything. I found myself behind the counter, so I ducked and crept out before anybody saw me. It was so crowded with Hogwarts students that nobody bothered to take a second glance at me – as far as they were concerned, I was a third year or older. The only people I saw that I really new were Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom, but neither of them saw me – or if they did, they said nothing – as I slipped out onto the streets.

I hadn't thought of what I would do once I got here. Great. What was I supposed to do now? How was I supposed to know where Skeeter was staying, or where she was now? All I could see were students milling to and fro, very few, if any, adults were in sight. The few that I did see, however, were all headed to the Three Broomsticks. I decided to give it a try – what did I have to loose? I'd just have to make sure that if there were any teachers in there to keep a low profile, or to just leave.

Just as I was nearing the Three Broomsticks, I got lucky (which was something I almost never was) – Rita Skeeter and her photographer were leaving the Three Broomsticks. I smiled, wrapped my hand tightly around my wand in my pocket, and then ran to catch up with them. They turned down a deserted alleyway (What were they up to? Probably nothing good). I quickly followed them, still smiling to myself.

"Rita!" I called. "Rita Skeeter!"

She spun around, confused, and found my wand suddenly in her face.

"Think it's funny to pick on people for _popularity_? Do you find it entertaining to make up lies when you could speak the truth and get just as many readers? Do you think that people won't want revenge for what you write about them? _Do you?_" I asked in a voice that I knew sounded really pissed off – it fit my mood, then.

"Er – "

"_Furnunculus_," I said in the same voice. Her skin erupted in boils, and she looked disgusted just as I brought my wand down, stowed it in my pocket, and suddenly brought my fist back and punched her in the nose. I heard a crack.

"I wouldn't tell anybody about that," I whispered so only she could hear me – even her photographer shouldn't have been able to hear, or at least understand, me. "And, if I were you, I wouldn't write any more horrible articles about me, or my family, or friends, or – or _anybody_, for that matter. Or your life might be made even more miserable than it will be now." Skeeter shoved me to the side roughly and she and her photographer ran around me back to the Three Broomsticks.

I smiled to myself, content for the time, and turned to go back to Honeydukes so I could get back to Hogwarts without being caught when suddenly something caught my eye.

A very familiar, bear-like, black, shabby dog sat with its head cocked to one side at the end of the alleyway, watching me intently.

I gulped.

Boy, was I in trouble now.

"_Abbey?"_

I spun around to find Draco and Blaise standing at the opposite end of the alleyway from the dog, blocking my exit. I saw Draco quickly stuff something that he seemed to be showing Blaise into his robe pocket before he walked toward me a few steps.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Draco asked, sounding more confused than anything. I instantly forgot about the dog behind me.

"Did you honestly think I was going to let Skeeter get away with what she wrote when I know that she's staying at a place where I can get to her? Where I can get revenge on her?" I asked. Draco stared at me, still looking confused. When he didn't speak, Blaise suddenly asked,

"Wait – _you _did that to Skeeter?" I turned my attention to him.

"Did what?" I asked.

"We just saw her running. Somebody had obviously put furnunculus on her, her nose looked broken, and it was bleeding terribly, as though she had been punched – she deserves to be, even if she wasn't. But when people asked her what had happened, she refused to answer." Good, she listened to me then and didn't tell anybody.

"Yeah, I told her not to tell anybody," I replied.

"Maybe she had one thing in that article right," Draco said suddenly, "you _are _manipulative." I laughed slightly and shrugged.

"I never said that I wasn't. Besides, you're one to talk. How did you get me to go out with you again?" I asked rhetorically. Draco stuck his tongue out at me immaturely. I rolled my eyes.

"How did you even get here?" Blaise asked suddenly. I smiled mysteriously.

"That's for me to know, and for neither of you to ever find out," I replied. "There's a good thing with being very good friends with the Weasley twins, you know. Like – they can get you any food from the kitchens whenever you ask. And, they know _every _secret passageway out of the school and to Hogsmeade."

"Has anybody seen you besides us and Skeeter?" Draco asked.

"No, I don't think so. Well – her photographer – Bobo, was that his name? Something stupid like that. But she probably won't let him tell anybody. As she made clear on Wednesday – I'm _very _manipulative."

"Come on," Draco said, motioning for me to follow him as he headed back toward Blaise. I jogged to catch up with them at the end of the alleyway just before entering the crowded street. They were peering around the wall cautiously.

"Why are you so worried?" I asked. They ignored me. "Hey! Why are you so worried that somebody will see me? The students don't care, and I keep a close eye out for teachers."

"Because if you _are _caught, you'll be expelled," Draco said distractedly, pushing me against the wall as Professor Sprout passed. I rolled my eyes, but waited there until she was out of sight.

"Why is everybody convinced that I'll be expelled if I'm caught? I'll probably just get a years worth of detentions, and, let's face it, I will probably get enough from Snape already to last me a year." Blaise and Draco ignored me again. Instead of responding, Blaise motioned for us to go and Draco grabbed my wrist, pulling me into the streets with him but staying close to the walls.

"Where do you go to get back?" he asked. "You said you weren't going to tell, but I'll get you to."

"Nope," I replied, coming up to walk beside him as he let go of my wrist. "You have no way to get me to tell."

"Come on! I just want to help you get back without getting – "

He cut off as Blaise stopped walking so suddenly we almost ran into him – in fact, I actually _did _run into him, and I wobbled backwards, about to ask what was going on and why we stopped so suddenly when I saw, standing just a few feet in front of Blaise, staring down at me, was Hagrid.

" – caught," Draco finished quietly. I could have sworn I heard him gulp.

"What're yeh doin' here, Abbey?" he asked, sounding confused. "Yur not a third year yet. Yur not supposed ter be here."

"Er – " Draco started.

"You think I should have just let Skeeter get away with what she did, then?" I asked, stepping around Blaise, who was right in front of me, to face Hagrid face-to-face. "_I _got on her wrong side, and she took it out on me and my family? You know me better than to just let her off free, Hagrid."

"Yeh can't jus' go round doin' whatever yeh like, Abbey," he said, but he didn't sound as though he was reprimanding me at all.

"You know what it's like to be in my shoes," I pointed out. He frowned at the reminder of what Skeeter had done to him only a few weeks ago. "Only it's worse for me – she wrote it about my _family_, and you know how protective Blacks are over that type of thing."

"But still – "

"Do you honestly blame me?"

"I can't let yeh jus' go back up ter the castle as though nothin' happened, Abbey," Hagrid said, changing the topic suddenly and sounding more upset at having to get me in troublethan anything. "I'm a teacher, I have ter set down the rules."

"Tell you what. If you let me off, I'll consider that revenge on Skeeter part of _your _revenge on her, too," I suggested. Hagrid's great, bushy eyebrows furrowed as though he was confused. "You _do_ want revenge on her for what she said, right?" I asked. If he didn't, I would actually be quite concerned – who _wouldn't _want revenge on her for saying those things?

"Well, yeah – wait," he said suddenly. "What did yeh do to Skeeter?"

"Er – just – just a little curse," I muttered, looking down at my feet, not wanting to get into trouble with Hagrid.

"And?" he asked. Damn, he knew me too well.

"And I punched her."

"And?"

"That's it," I exclaimed. "I swear!" Hagrid sighed and said, after a moment of hesitation,

"Alright. Just – hurry back to the castle and out of Hogsmeade, or yeh'll get inter trouble, and I won't be able ter help yeh out of it then."

"Thanks, Hagrid," I said, honestly appreciating him more than I ever had before. Blaise made his way around Hagrid, Draco following him and pulling me along.

"Where is this secret passageway?" Draco asked again.

"It's in Honeydukes cellar. Just help me to Honeydukes, I'll find it from there."

"Oh, Abbey?" Hagrid called after us. I spun around to face him again. "Yeh've got yurself an admirer." I looked down to what he was pointing at and saw the same bear-like black dog from before standing just a few feet behind me. I swallowed, pretended that I didn't recognize it, and said,

"Shoo! Dumb dog." It seemed to hesitate before turning and trotting away. Surprised that it had actually listened to me, I allowed Draco and Blaise to lead me to Honeydukes, where they kept watch while I slipped into the cellar and then into the trapdoor.

I slowly made my way down the stairs, my wand lit in front of me. My mind was completely devoid of thought – something that had hardly ever happened to me before. My feet moved of their own accord, and I stared blankly in front of me. That hadn't been as satisfying as I thought it would be. I thought that watching Skeeter freak out would be funny – hilarious – well, it had been sort of funny, but not a whole lot.

It seemed to take even longer to reach the bottom of the stairs as it had to reach the top. Finally, though, I found myself walking on level ground, my wand still lit in front of me. It had been a good ten minutes since I had finished climbing down the stairs when I heard a voice say,

"So – the rumors are true then?"

**A/N: OMG! Who is it? I bet you can figure it out, it's not that hard.**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks Krelseybell and nartyteek or the reviews!**

**That didn't take _as long_, did it? If it did, I'm sorry, I've been having major writer's block now. Not necessarily for THIS story, but for one of my others. I haven't updated it in FOREVER and I feel kind of bad...so if you read any of my other stories as well, I honestly and truly apologize for the delay!**

**Okay, so if you're still wondering why Sirius was in Hogsmeade (it kind of says here, but not a whole lot) it's chapter 27 of GoF, _Padfoot Returns_.**

Chapter 30

"_So – the rumors are true then?"_

I swear I jumped a good foot in the air. I had one of my feet just slightly off the ground, as I had been about to take another step, but I tripped over the uneven ground from shock as I put it down, stumbled forward and steadied myself just to whip my wand around to face where the voice had come from.

Leaning casually against the earthy wall with his arms crossed stood Father. He was smiling slightly at me, probably at the fact that I had almost just fallen on my face. His hair looked longer than it had before school had started, and his face looked a little older than before, as though he was stressed. I wondered what had been going on since I had left home.

I jumped again at the sight of him.

"Shit!" I cursed. He rose his eyebrows.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I – I said – oh, forget it," I exclaimed as he rose his eyebrows yet again. I knew that he knew what I had said. I lowered my wand a bit. "What are you doing in Hogsmeade?" 

"I was meeting up with Harry, Riley, Ron and Hermione to talk with them about – things," he said. I noticed he purposefully avoided saying what he was talking to them about, but I didn't ask – yet. I made a mental note to ask him later, though. "You never answered what I asked earlier – are the rumors true?"

"What rumors?" I asked innocently, leaning against the wall beside him, keeping the light of my wand up slightly. Father pulled out his wand and lit it as well. It really didn't help keep the tunnel any lighter.

"You know very well what rumors," he replied after he had lit it.

"Actually," I corrected, shaking my head lightly. "I don't." Father rose his eyebrows at me yet again, his hair falling into his face.

"About you and Malfoy junior," he explained, absentmindedly brushing his hair out of his face. I looked down at my hands, my face slightly pink, pushing my hair behind my ears. After a moment of awkward silence, I looked back up at him and said, in defense of both myself and Draco,

"Maybe they are true. So what if they are? Why does it matter?" Father stared at me for a brief moment before he shrugged.

"I'm just looking out for my little girl," he said, flashing a sweet smile in my direction. I didn't smile. I frowned instead.

"I can look after myself, thanks."

"I can see that. After what you did to that Skeeter cow, I don't think she'll be after you again. And, from what Sam and Riley tell Remus and I, you didn't take any of Malfoy's crap last year, or that Romilda girl's this year. They should watch out for themselves with you around." I growled.

"Those rats."

"No, no, no," he said, shaking his head. "_Wormtail's _a rat. They're just looking out for you. Actually, it's nice that they told. It makes me know that you can take care of yourself, I don't have to worry about you hanging out with those Slytherins. I just don't want you to get hurt. They're not always trustworthy, no matter how much they seem to be." He paused. "Did you know that Malfoy, junior, is your third cousin?"

"Yes, I did," I replied. He frowned. "It's a little gross, I must admit, but I like him, I really do. And he _must _like me – otherwise, why would he have wasted his whole year last year and half of his year this year bothering me to go out with him? Don't try to change that – just because his father is a Death Eater, it doesn't make him bad. Look at you and your family. And did _you _know that instead of calling him _Malfoy junior_, you can call actually call him _Draco_? Even Sam calls him that now."

"What were you doing in Hogsmeade anyway?" he asked, obviously trying to change the subject. "You _know_ you're not allowed to go until next year."

"Did you _not _see what I did to Skeeter?" I asked. "That's why I was there. That cow needs to learn to mind her own business."

"She didn't even write that much bad about you, it was mostly about – well, _me_," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but she wrote it_ because _of me," I replied sourly.

"What did you do to her?"

"It wasn't her. It was Romilda," I muttered, slowly sliding down the wall until I was sitting. Father sat down beside me, his shoulder touching mine lightly. "She wanted to go to the Yule Ball with Draco. So, as a joke, I told her to ask him. She didn't realize it was a joke, and she asked him. Of course – he refused. So she got pissed, and when I got back from the Ball Christmas night, she was stupid and told Skeeter crap. I guess they must know each other or something – they certainly are a lot alike."

"I feel like I'm back at school," Father muttered, putting his face in his hands. "Or even back in Azkaban with all this drama." I stared at him. I hadn't _meant _to make him feel like he was back in Azkaban. Shit.

"I'm – "

"_Don't _say you're sorry. It's not your fault. Everybody has drama when they're in school – and, apparently, when they're at work," he said. When he said the last sentence, he sounded extremely pissed off. I stared at him, wondering what was going on at work, and finally decided to ask.

"Okay, what the _hell _has been going on at work?"

"What gives you the idea that something has been going on at work?" he asked quickly – a little _too _quickly. Not to mention that he didn't reprimand my language.

"Well, for one, you look extremely stressed. Two, you sounded pissed off when you mentioned work. And three, you didn't reprimand my language a minute ago when I asked you what had been happing at work." He looked down at his hands, twiddling them in his lap.

"It's not _all _at work," he replied quietly. "And what _is _at work is...some of my coworkers are just plain stupid. Like the senior undersecretary, Dolores Umbridge..." He growled out her name.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

"She...she's tries her hardest to make my life as hard as possible."

"Why?" Father sighed a long, slow sigh, before looking up at me, his eyes filled with...hurt? I was sure that was what it was. But...no. I had never seen him looking this upset, even when Wormtail got away, even when Harry didn't believe that he was innocent, even when he found Riley, Draco and I in the forest after the World Cup...what the hell did Umbridge do?

"She hates..._dark _creatures. And she hates that I married one."

"She hates Dad?"

His response was so quiet I almost couldn't hear him. "Not only Remus."

I understood instantly. She hated Sam, Riley, and I too.

Were there more people out there like this? People that hated Dad because he was a werewolf, Father because he married one, and Sam, Riley and I because we were the children of a werewolf? It's not right – judging people before you know them, before you've even _met _them. I know firsthand. I've done it, and then the people I had judged were either my boyfriend or best friends – I had severely judged David and Sean before I had become friends with them. I had even judged Troy.

"Why are people like that?" I whispered after a moment. Father shook his head slowly, staring at the wall opposite us.

"I don't know. I don't understand it any better than you. Why did little, orphaned, Head-Boy, Tom Riddle, who was loved by _all _of his teachers, turn into the mass-murderer we know as Voldemort? Nobody knows the answers to these questions." I had never thought of Voldemort as a student. I wondered what he had been like. Father had said he was Head-Boy and beloved by every single teacher he had. What had gone wrong?

"What else is making you stressed?" I asked. "You said it wasn't all at work."

"It's – personal," he said, avoiding the question.

"You could just say you don't want to tell me," I muttered, but I don't think he heard me.

"Was revenge satisfying?" Father asked after several moments of silence.

"No. Not really. At least, not as satisfying as I thought it would be."

"I had figured." When I gave him a questioning look, he explained, "No revenge would be satisfying since what she did was to your loved ones, not to you. Believe me, I know. Wormtail ruined my life, but I was more worried about what he had done to Harry, James and Lily, Remus, Sam, Riley, and you."

"You didn't even know I existed," I reminded him. He shrugged.

"That doesn't mean I didn't care about you." Suddenly, he stood up and held his hand out to me. "Come on. You better get back up to the castle before somebody starts to worry – probably Draco." He smiled mischievously at me as he added the last part. I took his hand, although I was annoyed by him. "I'll walk you to the castle, shall I?"

We silently started up toward the castle. After a moment, I asked,

"So are you going to tell me what you talked to Harry and them about or not?"

Father sighed, contemplating.

"No, I don't think so. You're too young to be worrying about this – "

"But I _want _to know," I complained. "I'm only two years younger than them. _Please?_" Father sighed yet again, seeming to debate with himself.

"We mainly just talked about Crouch and his son – "

"Crouch has a son?" I asked sharply. Something didn't feel right, but I didn't know what...

"Sure does. He was caught with a group of Death Eaters and Crouch himself sent him to Azkaban while I was there. He died not long afterward."

"That's it?" I asked, a little disappointed. Whatever it was, he wasn't telling me.

"Well, we talked about how Karkaroff showed up to their potions class yesterday and showed Snape something on his arm. I know what it was – I didn't tell them, though, and I'm not telling you. Ron's going to try to talk Percy into telling him anything about where Crouch has been lately."

"Any new leads on Bertha Jorkins?" I asked. He shook his head sadly.

"No, but I know that it has something to do with everything else going on. I don't know what, but something."

Suddenly, something jogged my memory. The man that Riley, Draco, and I had seen in the forest after the Quidditch World Cup. Nobody had said anything about him lately. For some reason, I felt as though he was important...as though he was the missing piece to this puzzle of life.

"Did you guys ever find the man who conjured the Dark Mark in the forest?"

"_Shit!_ I forgot about him!" Father continued to curse under his breath.

"I feel like he's important," I said quietly, interrupting him. "I don't know why, I just...do."

"Do you remember what he looked like at all?"

"He was young. Pretty tall. Dirty blonde hair, freckles. He looked familiar, I just don't know where from. I didn't remember at the time, and I still don't. But I wish I knew...I feel like I should."

"Well, one thing is for certain," Father said, "whoever that man is, he's a Death Eater, and by now he's probably rejoined Voldemort."

We walked the rest of the way in silence. I couldn't stop thinking of where I had seen that man before, and I knew Father was trying to think of who he was. There were no leads, at least that Father had mentioned, but he seemed to be deep in thought. What was he thinking?

Finally, he stopped suddenly. I knew we had reached the end of the tunnel. Before I left, I had to ask,

"What are you thinking? You seem deep in thought about something."

"That description fits somebody else I know. Somebody I know was a Death Eater – or, I _think _was. But, it's not possible. That person is – they're _dead_. I know they are." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "You better get up there. Come here."

He held his arms open for a hug, which I gave him happily.

"Keep in touch, alright? Nobody's used their five-way mirrors yet. Those are really helpful. Just say the name of the person you want, they'll hear your voice from the mirror, they say your name and viola! You can see them, they can see you. And if you get more than one person, whoever is talking, that's who it shows."

"I'll be sure to use it."

"See ya babe." He kissed the top of my head before helping me up and out of the tunnel, into the corridor of Hogwarts.

"Miss Black-Lupin."

At first, I thought the worst, but when I spun around, I saw Draco and Blaise standing behind me laughing. Apparently, Blaise was amazing at impersonations of Snape, and he had wanted to freak me out. They walked toward me, still laughing. As they passed me, I slipped in between the two and walked with them to the Grand Staircase.

"That wasn't funny," I mumbled.

"Actually," Blaise corrected, "it was." I wrinkled my nose.

"What took you so long, anyways?" Draco asked. "I know you said it would take a while, but I didn't expect it to take you that long." I considered telling him, but decided that it was rather private and instead answered, shrugging,

"It was a long tunnel."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: I'm baack! I deleted the Author's note, so if you didn't read it, I am sooo sorry for the wait! **

**I also have a poll up now, since NOBODY reviewed with their opinions and I didn't get to that part yet in this chapter. Should Abbey realize the truth while she is out with the map, eavesdrop on "Moody" and get caught, or just a few of these? There are several choices, so share your opinion!**

**Please vote?  
**

Chapter 31

My life took a dramatic pause after that. All I did on my free time was homework, or just hung out with whoever happened to be nearby. The next thing that happened that wasn't completely boring and useless was on last Tuesday of the month. I was eating lunch at the Slytherin table with Draco and Blaise and Crabbe and Goyle that day just before it happened.

"You know," Draco said, "when you finally agreed to go to the ball with me, I wasn't _actually _going to ask you to go."

"Yeah, because every day you would yella question that began with 'will you' that _wasn't_ 'will you go to the ball with me,' across the entire Great Hall," I said sarcastically.

"That really didn't make any sense," Goyle muttered while Crabbe nodded in agreement. Blaise, Draco, and I stared at them.

"Yeah, it actually did," Blaise corrected, sounding confused as to how they didn't understand.

"Alright, fine," I said after a moment to Draco. "If you weren't going to ask me out, what _were_ you going to ask me?"

"I was going to ask if you would – "

"Abbey!"

Draco sighed, annoyed at being cut off mid-sentence, as Sam waved me over to the Gryffindor table. I shrugged in a silent apology to Draco as I made to stand up. "Wait, you aren't going over are you? Lunch is almost over!" I shrugged again, indifferent.

"He's my _brother_ – I can't just ditch him."

"I'm your _boyfriend_ – you can't just ditch me!" I smiled slightly at him.

"See ya, Drake." I heard him sigh, exasperated but not completely angry, as I headed off to the Gryffindor table, where I found Sam sitting with Fred, George, and Lee. I sat down between Fred and George, pushing Fred to the side to make room. He shoved me jokingly back lightly.

"Hey Sam," I said. "What's up?"

"Just thought you'd like to know that tonight, at nine o'clock, the champions are all supposed to go down to the Quidditch pitch and Bagman is going to tell us about the third task." I saw Fred and George exchange strange looks and couldn't help but ask what it was about.

"Well," Fred said slowly. "Yesterday Georgie here and I got bored so we took out our brooms and were going to play some one on one Quidditch."

"However," George continued for him, "when we got down there, there were really short hedges that twisted and crisscrossed all over the place."

"Like a maze," Fred said.

"They wrecked the Quidditch pitch?" Sam said, indignant. "They can't do that!" I noticed that he was more concerned about the pitch than the maze, which, quite frankly, I found hilarious, yet not completely unexpected. On the contrary, it was quite _expected_.

"Oh, I'm sure they can fix it easily," I said, waving my hand as though it didn't really matter because, although I liked Quidditch, it didn't. "Why are you not worried about the task but freaking out about the Quidditch pitch? It's Dumbledore, for crying out loud! He can fix nearly anything!" Sam glared at me.

"Go bother Draco some more," he said, waving for me to leave, sounding, and looking, extremely annoyed. Irritated with him, I got up and followed Sean, David, and Troy, whom I could see in the distance leaving the Great Hall to head off to class.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I waited up for Sam that night after spending nearly the entire day wondering what was so great about a maze. By the time he returned only a few people were still up. Riley, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in a corner together, and after Sean joined David and Troy in the dormitories, leaving me alone, I sat down beside them.

"Hey," Riley yawned. "Why are you still up?"

"I'm waiting for Sam. I wanna know what the next task is." I already knew they were waiting for Harry, so I didn't ask why they were still up. Personally, I think Riley should have waited for Sam _and _Harry, not just Harry, but at the time I was way to tired to really say anything.

It was just about that time that Sam returned. He walked slowly over to me.

"Fred and George were right," he said quickly, pushing mine and Riley's feet off of the couch to sit between us. Riley rolled her eyes but listened to him even though she was annoyed with him. "There _are _hedges all over the Quidditch pitch. It's a maze. We have to get past all the obstacles – creatures and spells and stuff – and whoever touches the Triwizard Cup in the center of the maze first wins."

"What do your points have to do with anything, then?" Hermione asked. "What was the point of them?"

"Those with the highest points go in first. So Harry and I go in first, then Krum, then Fleur."

"Where's Harry?" Ron asked. Sam shrugged, looking toward the Portrait Hole.

"He was walking up with Krum." I saw Ron instantly frown. "They were right behind me for a while. I dunno where they went." He didn't seem too worried. Neither did Riley, and neither was I – I figured that since he was talking to Krum, he had taken a bit longer. Ron seemed upset, and Hermione's brows furrowed in thought. She looked slightly worried.

"I hope nothing happened to them," she muttered.

"They're fine," I assured her.

"Besides, nobody would bother Krum, the kid is huge," Riley agreed.

"Yeah, if anything happened it will have to be Krum hurting Harry," Ron said angrily. Hermione glared at him.

"Vicktor would never do anything to hurt Harry."

"Oh? Then what – ?"

"Alright, alright, break it up!" I said quickly to prevent yet another fight between Ron and Hermione. Riley didn't seem to notice them arguing, Sam was ignoring them by pestering Riley, but I was annoyed. "There's no point in arguing about where Harry is when he just walked in!" Ron and Hermione looked up and were surprised to really see Harry walking toward us.

"You guys will never believe what happened!" he exclaimed as he sat down next to Hermione.

"Sam already told us what the next task is," Riley muttered distractedly, swatting Sam's hand away from her homework. Ever since he had stopped talking, he had been poking her side to make her jump and trying to take her homework from her out of boredom.

"No, not that," Harry said. "After the task, Krum pulled me aside to – to ask me a question. We were by the forest, when none other than _Crouch _comes out of the woods." Even Sam stopped to listen now. "He was out of his mind. Talking to 'Weatherby_' _even though Percy wasn't there and hardly able to walk."

"What was wrong with him?" Riley asked. Harry shrugged.

Kept saying something about Bertha Jorkins being dead, Voldemort getting stronger, something about me, about it being all his fault, and...and...something about his son and wife."

"Why would he bring up his son and wife?" Hermione asked. "In the midst of all those recent topics, why would he bring up them if they died years ago?" Harry shrugged.

"I left Krum with him and went to get Dumbledore because he wanted to see him. Snape wouldn't let me up into his office – of course – but then Dumbledore himself came down and let me take him there. And, get this – he stunned Krum and disappeared!"

"That's creepy," Riley said, making a face. I had my eyebrows furrowed, still wondering about what Hermione had asked – why _would _he bring up his son and wife if they died a long time ago? Just like when father had brought up Crouch's son, something felt off. But I still couldn't figure out what.

"You got that right," Sam replied. "It's weird, that he'd just disappear when he was as bad off as you said he was."

"It could have been somebody else," I pointed out.

"But it must've been Crouch," Ron said. "That's why he was gone when Harry and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."

"I don't think so," Harry said, shaking his head slowly. "He seemed really weak. I don't recokn he was up to Disapparating or anything."

"You can't Disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?" Hermione asked irritably.

"Okay, how's this for a theory," Ron said. "Krum attacked Crouch – no, wait for it – and then Stunned himself!" This made me just think that Ron wanted to have a go at Krum. Actually – this _confirmed _my theory.

"And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?" Hermione asked coldly. She had a good point.

"Oh, yeah..."

"Moody was there, he's probably looking for Crouch now," Harry said. "With his eye and everything..." After a moment, of silence, Hermione stood up.

"Well, I'm off to bed. If you ask me, somebody should tell Sirius or Remus about Crouch."

"Here," Sam said, pulling out his mirror.

"What's that?"

"You didn't get one?" Sam asked Harry. "Weird. I'm going to tell Father to get you one. You're basically part of the family now, anyways."

I stood up just before he called Father and Dad and told them I was headed up to bed and followed Hermione up the dormitories.

I fell asleep that night trying to figure out what was up with Crouch's son and why I felt he was important, but was still unable to figure it out.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I woke up the next morning, the morning of Wednesday, March 28th, dreading the rest of the day.

Why?

It was my thirteenth birthday. And it's not like I don't like my birthday, getting presents is nice, but I hate when people tell me happy birthday. What am I supposed to say to that? With a bit of luck, only Riley and Sam would remember my birthday. With a _lot _of luck, only Father and Dad would.

As soon as I woke up, though, I knew I wasn't lucky. Because Addison and Adelaide knew.

"Happy birthday!" they exclaimed together as soon as I pulled the curtains around my bed back.

"You know," I replied, rubbing my eyes, "I never know what to say when people tell me that."

"Just say thanks," Adelaide suggested. I shrugged as Addison tossed a small wrapped parcel to me from her and Adelaide.

"It's just awkward," I replied. "You know I told you guys that you didn't have to get me anything. Actually," I corrected, as I slowly started to unwrap their gift. "I _told_ you notto get me anything. I don't need anything. Besides, I have everything I could possibly want."

"Yeah, lots of money, a great family, and an amazing boyfriend," Addison grumbled. "It's not fair."

"Are you saying you don't have a great family?" Adelaide asked, pretending to sound offended. "Or lots of money? Because you do have lots of money, at least quite a bit, and, personally, _I _think your family is great – _mine_, however, is a little..._annoying_, if you know what I mean. My brother and parents are great, but my sister..." She trailed off, shaking her head jokingly.

"Oh, shut up," Addison laughed. "Besides, I'm mostly jealous about the boyfriend part. It's hard to find a guy who is sweet _and _hot – " I had to hold back a snort. It's not that I didn't think my boyfriend was hot – although, at the time, I wouldn't admit it out loud – it was just weird hearing it come from Addison.

"Unless they're gay," a voice from the other side of the room said maliciously. The three of us turned and saw Romilda pushing the curtains back from her bed. I sighed, already annoyed with her. "All the sweet _and_ hot ones are. Which they _shouldn't _be, I mean people aren't _supposed_ to be gay. It's completely wrong. God frowns upon – "

"Would you shut up and leave," Adelaide interrupted rudely. Romilda glared at her before she stood up, grabbed some clothes and took them to the bathroom.

"What a bitch," Addison said once she was out of earshot. "She _knows _your fathers are gay. She just said that to piss you off." I shrugged, indifferent.

"I know she did. I know that she's trying to ruin my day," I said. I heard the shower turn on in the bathroom, and I wondered if she had been listening into our conversation before that. "She tries to ruin _every_thing. But I'm not going to let her. Not today I'm not."

"Still. Do you want me to punch her for you?" Adelaide asked. I laughed.

"Why not? She deserves it." I grabbed my hairbrush and started brushing the knots out of my hair. "And Addison, why are you worried about dating when you're only thirteen?"

"Why not? You are." I laughed.

"No, _Draco _was the one that was worried about that. Not me." I stood up and stretched. "I'm headed downstairs. Thanks for the gift guys! You really didn't have to do that." Adelaide waved her hand at me as she yawned, silently telling me that it was no big deal.

I headed downstairs slowly. I knew what was waiting for me once I reached the Common Room. It had happened last year, and I just _knew _that it was going to happen again this year. Well, probably not the _exact _same thing would happen – I had never known them to do the same thing twice. But I knew that _something _would happen.

But when I got downstairs, I didn't see them anywhere. Sean and Troy must have already gone down to breakfast, because David stood alone reading the bulletin, probably waiting for me. He hadn't seemed to notice me standing there yet. Which was okay, because it gave me time to look for them.

When I was unable to find them, I finally stepped off of the last step and headed into the Common Room.

That was as big mistake.

As soon as I had taken two steps away from the stairs, I felt my feet being lifted off of the ground and soon found myself on Fred's right shoulder and George's left shoulder. I laughed as Lee and Sam came out from behind them and the three of them started singing "Happy Birthday" obnoxiously loud.

Yep, this was _way _better than last year.

Once they were finished singing, Fred and George still didn't put me down. I didn't care, really – it was quite fun. David came over and joined us, laughing and shaking his head.

"How did you just come out of nowhere?" I asked after they finally dropped me onto an empty couch.

"We are not telling," Fred said as he and George and Lee skipped off after throwing some Weasley Wizard Wheezes merchandise at me. I gathered it up to take it upstairs. I turned to Sam. At first, he didn't seem to want to tell, but after a moment he said quietly,

"They borrowed the cloak from Harry." I nodded – I had expected something like that. He threw a wrapped box at me, which I took upstairs with me, setting it on the top of WWW things.

"I'll open it later," I said. "Thanks!" He waved his hand as he exited the Common Room.

I met David in the Common Room again and we headed down to breakfast together. Sean and Troy were already there, and he told me they would all give me their presents later. I didn't really care much – it's not like my life revolved around receiving gifts.

"Happy Birthday Abbey!" Riley and Harry called to me as I passed them.

"Oh! Happy Birthday!" Ron and Hermione chorused. I rolled my eyes at Ron – I figured he would forget, even though I was one of the first people to tell him happy birthday on his birthday.

"Thanks guys," I said, smiling at them all as I sat down beside Sean.

"Happy Birthday," he said, his mouth full of food. I rose my eyebrows at him – he knew I found it gross to talk with your mouth full. He rolled his eyes, swallowed, and repeated himself. I smiled at him as Troy chorused him, finally having realized that I was there.

"Thanks guys."

About halfway through breakfast, I felt a pair of warm hands set over my eyes out of nowhere. I jumped lightly as I heard a soft voice whisper in my ear,

"Guess who."

"Draco," I laughed lightly, pulling his hands away from my face. I turned around slightly and he set one of his hands on my back to keep his balance as he sat down beside me. When David, Sean, and Troy finally looked away he leaned toward me and whispered into my ear,

"Happy Birthday." I smiled as he leaned back, smiling a crooked smile at me.

"How'd you know? I've never mentioned it before."

"I'm your boyfriend, I'm supposed to know. Besides, I know everything about you, remember?" I laughed slightly. "For the record, _my _birthday is June 5th. Don't forget it, either." He paused, making sure that David, Sean, and Troy weren't listening, before continuing. "I've got you a gift. But I don't want to give it to you here."

"Then where?"

"Think you could sneak out tonight, about nine? Meet me in that empty classroom near the huge mirror on the fourth floor?"

"Breaking the rules, hmm...?" I said thoughtfully. "I don't know...I guess I could do it just this once." Draco smiled his crooked smile again.

"Now, I must be going to class. Wouldn't want to be late to Transfiguration, McGonagall will kill me. You three," he said suddenly, pointing to Sean and David and Troy, all of whom looked bewildered and confused, "take good care of my girl. Wouldn't want her to get hurt on her birthday." I smacked his arm jokingly and rolled my eyes as he strutted away, smiling and winking over his shoulder.

**A/N: Don't forget to vote on the poll!  
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**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to peanutfreak and Lyndsey for the reviews!**

**Can you believe how fast I updated? Yeah, me neither! **

**Sooo...hardly anybody voted on the poll. I didn't get to that part of this chapter yet, so you still have time! I still can't decide what to do. Anywho, I had to delete a few of the choices because I've decided I didn't want them to happen. Sooo vote! I LOOOVE opinions – I honestly do!**

**On to the story!**

Chapter 32

"Hey, Abbey," I heard Troy say during lunch. I didn't really hear him – I mean I did, but I had just seen Draco and Goyle leave and was now too busy trying to figure out what Draco had gotten me that was so secretive to listen – which is what I had been doing basically all day so far. "Abbey!"

"What?" I asked after a moment.

"Your nose is bleeding."

Confused, I touched my finger to my nose and brought it away, noticing that it _was _bleeding. _That's weird_, I thought, _my nose has _never _bled before._ I looked up and down the table, seeing if anybody else had noticed, and saw Fred and George giggling nearby. I frowned – I _knew _that giggle. I had grown up with it. And they only used it if they had done something.

"The twins," I grumbled as I stood up and marched over to them, leaving Troy bewildered and staring blankly after me.

"Give me the antidote," I said, holding out my hand as soon as I reached them, now feeling the blood drip down further. I brought my other hand up to my nose and pinched it shut to stop the blood.

"What are you talking about?" Fred asked innocently. They had stopped laughing the minute they had seen me coming over.

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about," I said. "It's one of your 'birthday pranks' you pull every year. You're all nice in the morning and then you throw us off by pulling a prank on us. I've _seen _you giving _pucking pastilles, fever fudges, _and _fainting fancies _to first years before, and I _know _this is a new one."

"We _are _developing a nosebleed one, but we don't have an antidote yet," George said. My nose would have flared if I wasn't holding it shut.

"You gave me something you don't have an antidote to?" I asked dangerously – it would have been better if I didn't have a funny voice from pinching my nose shut.

"Well," George said. He just gave himself away by not answering quicker, but he didn't realize it until he noticed my raised eyebrows and Fred smacking his forehead on the table. "Ugh!" he groaned, now smacking his forehead with his palm as well.

"Well, we _do _have an antidote, but we don't know if it works on everybody yet," Fred said. "That's why we gave it to you. Nobody else would take it willingly, so we slipped it into your food as we passed. The antidote worked on both of us, but we don't know about anybody else." I groaned – if it didn't work, I would murder them.

"Just give me the antidote," I mumbled. George slowly put it into my hand and I chewed it slowly. "It tastes like piss," I muttered, stealing a drink of George's pumpkin juice to wash the taste down.

"Yeah, we know," Fred mumbled. "We're trying to work on that."

"Did it work?" George asked anxiously. I let go of my nose and instantly knew that it _didn't _– I could feel the blood rushing out worse than ever. I pinched my nose again and glared at them. "Maybe it'll take a while," he suggested, sounding frightened of me.

"I don't think so," Fred muttered, also looking frightened. "It worked right away on us."

"Well what the hell am I supposed to do now?" I snapped. "Let my nose bleed until I bleed to death?"

"Go to Madame Pomfrey, I'm sure she'll know what to do," George said.

"Just don't tell her it was us," Fred added.

"Like hell I won't," I muttered, standing up and walking away. As I passed David and Sean and Troy, I told them where I was going. They all offered to accompany me, but I told them to go to class – Potions was about to start, and Snape wouldn't be alright with it if they were late.

I marched angrily to the Hospital Wing and threw open the doors. Madame Pomfrey was leaning over a first year girl from Hufflepuff who was holding her left wrist and glared at me as the doors shut behind me.

"What now, Miss Lupin?" Clearly, I was in here to often. Mostly visiting somebody in here, but not always.

"It's _Black_-Lupin," I corrected. I saw her roll her eyes. "And I have a terrible nosebleed." She silently pointed to a bed a few down from the first year as she went on ranting to the poor child about how she shouldn't have done whatever she did. I grumpily sat down.

"Tilt your head back, Miss Black-Lupin, that should slow it down." When she had her back turned to me, I stuck my tongue out at her as I did what she had told me to. "I'll be with you in a few minutes." The bell rang for class to start, and I knew I was in a world of hell when I arrived to Potions late. Snape wouldn't care if I was in the hospital wing. Or else he just wouldn't believe me.

_What a great way to spend my birthday, _I thought several minutes later when Madame Pomfrey was still fussing over the first year. Apparently, she had broken her wrist tripping down the stairs when Peeves had pulled a carpet out from under her feet. _Stuck in the hospital wing with a bloody nose. I'm going to _kill _the twins if it's the last thing I do._

The end of class bell rang several minutes before the first year left, looking about ready to cry, and Madame Pomfrey came over to me. My nose was still bleeding profusely.

"Now what happened? Why is your nose bleeding?" For a second, I was tempted to tell her about the twins, but I decided not to. Instead, I shrugged.

"I dunno. It just randomly started bleeding during lunch." She narrowed her eyes, obviously not believing me, but said nothing as she forced my head forward again and told me to let go of my nose. Blood ran down my chin as she waved her wand. The blood slowed down and then finally came to a stop.

"That's it?" I asked, bewildered, as she waved her wand again to remove the blood stains from my face and clothes. "Why did I have to wait hours for that? Couldn't you have helped _me _first?"

"Miss Erie was in a worse condition than you, and she came here first, so she got my help first." I groaned as I sat up quickly.

"Can I leave now?"

"Please do so." I rolled my eyes as I quickly ran out of the room, hoping to get to DADA before the bell rang. I don't think Moody would care too much if I was late, but I actually learned something in that class.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**(Guess what? This is Draco's POV for the first time! Just a little snid-bit here for a while.)**

"You guys are so stupid," Blaise muttered to Crabbe and Goyle after Charms. Goyle had somehow managed to throw Flitwick across the room and Crabbe's goblet he had been trying to transfigure had exploded all over himself and Blaise. Blaise wasn't too happy. I found it hilarious. I was still laughing as we headed off to History of Magic.

"Shut up," Blaise said to me now. I shook my head.

"Don't tell me what to do," I said, still laughing. Blaise huffed but said nothing. I listened to the Weasley twins talking right in front of us.

"We shouldn't have given it to her – "

"I know, I know, I feel terrible now – I thought the antidote would work – "

I checked my watch impatiently. Why couldn't it be nine already? I wanted to give Abbey her gift. But at the same time, I didn't...I was nervous and anxious at the same time. And yes, there _is _a difference. What if she hated it? But I wanted to get it over with.

Besides, that wasn't _all _I had planned for that night.

"Earth to Malfoy."

I jerked out of my blank stare to look at Crabbe, who was staring at me, looking confused.

"What?" I snapped.

"You were staring."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied, trying to sound indignant. Up ahead, I saw Abbey's friends David, Sean, and Troy round the corner of the corridor. Crabbe shook his head, but I was no longer paying attention. Where was Abbey? Why wasn't she with her friends? She never left them.

"Hey, where's Abbey?" one of the twins asked the three of them.

"Still in the Hospital Wing, thanks to you guys," Sean snapped. _WHAT? _She was in the Hospital Wing? I quickly pushed Goyle out of the way and rushed up to the Weasley's and Sean, David, and Troy.

"Her nose is _still_ bleeding?" the other twin asked.

"Madame Pince probably couldn't find a cure," David replied snottily, "since even _you _guys couldn't, and you invented those stupid nosebleed pill things!"

"What happened?" I asked, quickly shoving Troy out of the way so I could join the conversation. They looked surprised that I had overheard, and the twins looked away.

"These goons gave Abbey one of their stupid joke items that made her nose bleed, but their antidote didn't work," David answered. I turned angrily to the twins.

"Don't you realize that it's her birthday today?" I snapped.

"Hey, we thought the antidote would work, it worked on both of us!" I wanted nothing more than to curse them, but instead I turned and quickly walked down to the Hospital Wing. In the nearby corridor, I turned the corner and ran headfirst into a small body, probably an annoying first year, knocking them backward.

"Watch it, I'm in a hurry!" I snapped. I moved to step over them when I heard a familiar voice say,

"You know, you _could_ be nicer." My right foot stopped in mid-air, and I looked down to see Abbey staring at it wearily as it looked about ready to step right on her stomach, her hair falling into her face. I slowly set my foot back down beside the other one and held my hand out to help her up. She glanced up at me as she took it.

"Sorry," I said once she was back on her feet and brushing the dust off of herself. "I didn't know it was you."

"Well obviously, you're never that rude to me. You know it's not necessary to be that rude to _anybody_, right?"

"Well yeah, but I heard you were in the Hospital and was worried about you, so I was kind of in a hurry." She smiled slightly at me and shook her head slowly.

"Still. You should work on that." I groaned.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Well, are you alright?"

"Yeah, it was just one of the twins stupid joke items." She shook her head. "I don't know what I'm going to do with them."

"If it helps, they did seem pretty sorry." She shrugged.

"Now get moving, or I'll be late to Defense, and I bet Moody can see me here with that crazy eye of his and won't think 'I was talking to my boyfriend' is a good excuse for being late." I laughed.

"Yeah, I have Potions next, I don't think Snape will be forgiving either."

"See ya later, then." I smiled once more at her before heading off toward the dungeons.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**(Back to Abbey's POV. There will eventually be more in Draco's POV, just not for a while.)**

Nine couldn't come fast enough. I could tell that Draco was anxious too – it was written all over his eyes when I had ran into him (literally) on the way back from the Hospital Wing.

I waited in the Common Room alone while David and Sean and Troy went up to bed. I tried reading, but by 8:30 I couldn't focus and decided to leave early. I had asked Harry to borrow the cloak and map, and he didn't need them, so he let me. He just told me to stay away from Moody because he wanted the map, for some reason. Before I left, I checked the map, but "Alastor Moody" was nowhere nearby.

I tried to keep one eye on the map as I walked slowly, but I almost walked right in on Peeves and then again on Filch. Luckily, I noticed at the last moment and took detours.

I saw Draco's name on the map in the room we had agreed to meet in, and just outside of it I put the cloak away. I didn't want Draco to know about it, as it wasn't mine. I planned to keep the map in my pocket so I could grab it at any moment to make sure nobody was coming, but I really didn't want Draco to know about it either. You never know what could happen.

I took a deep breath before I pushed the door open slowly and quietly.

**A/N: Don't forget to vote!**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	33. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to peanutfreak for the reviews!**

**It took me a long time to get this just the way I wanted it. That's why it took longer than I had expected. Plus, I made this chapter longer than usual. I hope the long wait was worth it!**

**I don't know when I'll be able to update next because my sister is getting married in five days and I'm the maid of honor so I will probably be pretty busy for a while. Plus I have two other stories to keep up with in the meantime. But I'll try not to be too long!**

Chapter 33

As soon as he heard the door open, Draco, who was facing the windows with his hands in his pockets, turned sharply to face me. For the first time since the Yule Ball, his hair was falling casually in his face instead of slicked back like usual. We smiled slightly at each other as I shut the door silently behind me.

"Good...night?" he said, pausing and obviously wondering if he was supposed to say "good night" because it _was_ night but it makes it sound like a farewell. I rose my eyebrows and laughed at him.

"How about good _evening_?" I suggested. He nodded, taking my right hand in his and leading me over to one of the walls.

"Yes, that would've been better," he replied, leaning against the wall and sliding down it slowly, pulling me down with him. He waited while I got myself situated beside him. "I wish you were old enough to go to Hogsmeade because they're going this Saturday and I'd much rather be there than in this old, dusty room."

"You know that I know how to sneak into Hogsmeade, right?" I pointed out. "You caught me last time." He shrugged.

"Then it would have to be all secretive. Although I suppose _this _has to be pretty secretive too." Even though my hair was pulled into a single, long braid, my bangs fell into my face and I tried to put them behind my ear. They were too short. I felt Draco staring at me as I looked around the room, not sure what to say. "New earrings?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, feeling my ear with my finger. "Sam and Abbey gave them to me. I saw them in Diagon Alley a while back and said I liked them but didn't have enough money to buy them." They were small, thick hoops with diamonds around them.

"They're very pretty."

"Thanks," I said, smiling. "So what's with all the secrecy?"

"Well, I think what I got you needs to stay between us."

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"Well, you'll see." He pulled a box, about a foot long, half a foot tall, and half a foot wide out from behind him. I didn't understand where it had come from – surely it hadn't been there before? I hadn't noticed it. It was wrapped in fancy-looking, deep purple wrapping paper with a fake white rose with pink tips somehow attached to the top. He handed it delicately to me. I smiled as I took it.

"You know you didn't have to – "

"Sure I did," he said, "you're my girlfriend, it's my obligation to get you a nice present." I shrugged as I pulled the rose off slowly. Draco reached over and took it lightly from my hands and pushed the stem of it behind my ear gently. I smiled slightly at him, but he was too busy watching my hands to notice. I went back to unwrapping the box.

Somehow, I got the wrapping paper off without ripping it at all. Draco laughed as I pulled it off completely.

"You can rip it, you know," he said. I shrugged.

"I've always found that somewhat rude."

Luckily, the box wasn't taped shut. I didn't know how I would open that without a knife. It was a plain cardboard box, and I opened it slowly. Inside were two more boxes with three purple tulips sitting on top of the top one. The top box was wrapped in lavender with a white bow wrapped around it and the bottom was wrapped in light blue with no bow. I took out the tulips first, sniffed them, and then set them beside me. I untied the bow on the first box and wrapped it around my neck like a scarf jokingly. Draco laughed and rolled his eyes.

This time, I accidentally ripped it just slightly about halfway through, so I just ripped the wrapping paper off noisily.

"See? It doesn't hurt anybody," Draco said, taking the paper and wadding it up in a ball.

"Yeah, but it almost gave me a paper cut," I complained. He rolled his eyes again but said no more.

Inside was a large box of those fancy, bite-sized French chocolates – I knew they were French because the writing on the box was clearly in French.

"You know me better than I thought if you knew how much I like chocolate," I laughed. "I bet you bought these from Madam Maxime, didn't you?"

"No," Draco answered, indignant. "What gives you that idea?"

"Well she tried to sell Sean some one time." I looked at him, my eyes narrowed. "Did you buy them from a Beauxbatons student?" He stared blankly at me. "Which one was it?" He sighed.

"Fleur," he answered quietly. I laughed.

"It's not a big deal," I said as I set the box where the tulips were, setting them down on top of it. "I was just wondering." I took out the next box, wanting to shake it to see if I could guess what was in it but deciding that that wasn't a good idea. What if it was something that was breakable? Instead of shaking it, I took the wrapping paper off gently again.

Inside was a fancy, black journal with a square on the front where a picture of the two of us dancing at the Yule Ball was. I was too busy staring at the picture to notice the rest of it.

"Where did you get this picture?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter," he said quickly. "Go over there," he pointed to the other side of the room and handed me a quill, "and write something in that." Confused, my eyebrows furrowed, I said slowly,

"Alright." I stood up slowly, confused, and went to the corner. I saw Draco stand up as well and turn his back to me. "What're you doing?" I asked, confused.

"Nothing, just write in that, okay?"

"Alright," I said, confused, as I flipped the journal open to the first page, took the quill, and wrote, "Hello" on it. The words soaked into the page and a few seconds later the words, "Hey Abbey" appeared. "Holy shit," I cursed from surprise. "What the hell is this?" Draco spun back around and I saw that he had a journal exactly like the one I had in his hands. He was smiling at me and motioned for me to come over. I did so, and he showed me the journal he was holding.

It had the exact same words on it.

"What is this?" I asked again, confused.

"They're enchanted journals."

"Well no dip! What do they do?"

"Well, they're for this summer," he explained. "Assuming we don't hate each other by then, we'll need a way to contact each other that doesn't take days, or at least hours, for the owl to deliver the message. And we probably won't be able to go over to each other's house much, if at all, because our parents hate each other and therefore they probably hate us. So these notebooks can help us keep in contact."

"That's awesome," I said. "I've never seen these before! Where'd you get them?"

"I found them in some magazine of my mom's," he said, shrugging. "Supposedly, it's _one-of-a-kind_," he added. "Don't take these things for granted." I smiled.

"I won't," I said, setting the journal down by the box. "So...where _did _you get that picture?" I asked. He rolled his eyes.

"You're not going to let that go, are you?" he asked, throwing his journal down near mine loudly. I shook my head, smiling. "Oh, well, if you _must _know, there was a professional photographer at the Yule Ball that night and he put order forms with a paper showing all the pictures he had taken on the bulletin boards in each of the Common Rooms."

"Dang, I really need to start checking that board," I said. Draco smiled. I suddenly realized how close we were standing and felt my face heating up slightly. I didn't understand why. I never blushed. _Ever_. I swallowed, trying to slow down my suddenly racing heart. My hands started to get slightly clammy.

"You're awful quiet tonight," I said quietly. Our faces were a mere inch apart now, and our eyes met. Like I was sure my face was, his was slightly pink, and I could smell a dim, musky cologne coming off of him. The rain pattered the windows lightly, but I seemed to tune it out and instead all I could hear was my heartbeat.

"That's 'cause you take my breath away," he whispered back.

I don't know which of us initiated it. It was probably a bit of both of us. Either way, it was coming, and it didn't matter who initiated it because next thing either of us knew our lips were locked together. I saw him close his eyes, and I followed suit. I felt his hands gently touch my hips while, without thinking, I wrapped my arms around his neck. As a matter of fact, I could've sworn I stopped thinking altogether.

It started out as a soft kiss that lingered. But as he wrapped his arms around my lower back, hugging me closer to him, I found myself deepening the kiss and standing up on my tiptoes to better reach his soft lips. I lost all sense of time, and all that mattered was never wanting this to end.

I don't know how long it lasted, but finally we were leaning apart simultaneously. We kept our foreheads touching as we caught our breath. After a moment, I whispered,

"Y'know that was a cheesy line, right?"

"'Course. But it's true, and it got the job done, dinnit?"

"Mmm? Are you saying you _planned _that?" I joked.

"Oh no, _never_," he said sarcastically, shaking his head slightly.

"We should definitely stop standing like this."

"And why's that?"

"Because I feel like I'm going cross-eyed." He laughed, smiling his dazzling smile, before he unwrapped his arms from around my waist, took my hand in his, and led me back over to the wall where we had been sitting earlier, pulling me down with him again. We sat shoulder to shoulder, and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Stop smirking," I yawned.

"Who says I'm smirking?"

"I know you well enough. When you get what you want, you smirk."

"Oh? And what did I want?"

"Don't play stupid."

He sighed but said no more and instead wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I sighed and closed my eyes, yawning again.

"Tired?" Draco asked.

"Definitely. I've had a long day."

"Was it good, though? Aside from the fact that you got stuck in the Hospital Wing for an entire hour?"

"The best."

As we sat there in silence, listening to the rain hit the windows lightly, I realized how different things unexpectedly seemed. I suppose that, though I _did _call him my boyfriend before, I had never truly thought that Draco _was _my boyfriend, I had just considered him a good friend. Now...well, that wasn't really true anymore.

I suddenly remembered the day I had snuck into Hogsmeade to give Rita Skeeter a piece of my mind and how, in the tunnel on the way there, I had wondered what was going on with our relationship because we "hadn't kissed since Christmas but I caught Sam and Katie, and Riley and Fred kissing all the time," and then I had added, "not like it mattered to me." But it _had _mattered to me, I was just denying it. In reality, I had been waiting and waiting for this moment.

"We should probably head back," Draco said suddenly.

"But I don't want to," I whispered. "I wanna stay here forever."

"I know," he whispered back. "But we really should go back." I sighed and sat up, grabbing my things on the ground next to me as he stood up and then held his hand out to help me up. "I'm walking you to your Common Room tonight whether you like it or not." I put the gifts in the huge pocket inside my robes that I had never found use for before now.

"I can walk myself."

"Why don't you want me to walk you to your Common Room? It's a guy's job to be chivalrous, isn't that what all girls want? And yet, when I try to be chivalrous, you don't want me to be," he said, sounding kind of hurt and looking down at his feet.

"Oh, babe, it's not you," I said, putting my hands on his cheeks and forcing his chin up so he was looking at me in the eye. "I promise. I can't tell you what it is, because I've sworn that I wouldn't." I leaned forward and kissed him lightly before I turned to leave. But before I could, Draco grabbed my hand and pulled me back, put his hand behind my back, and kissed me yet again, leaning me backward slightly, like that really famous photo from the end of WWII that was taken in New York City. It was sweet and brief.

"See you tomorrow," I whispered, smiling slightly at him.

"Goodnight love," he whispered, smiling back. I paused a moment before I turned around and left quietly. I felt kind of bad, leaving him like that, but Harry would _murder _me if I told Draco about the cloak and/or map. Almost as soon as I was in the hallway, I threw the cloak on and got the map out and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" as I started walking toward the Common Room.

The only name anywhere near mine was "Draco Malfoy." "Alastor Moody" was in his office, and with him was...

I stopped in my tracks.

"Bartemius Crouch."

What the hell? Why was Crouch with Moody, when Moody kept saying that he couldn't find Crouch? Moody was sitting still, and Crouch was pacing. Maybe Crouch had just showed up in Moody's office after disappearing...

I considered going to eavesdrop, but instead decided that I would ask Moody tomorrow if he had had any word of Crouch. If he said no...then I would _really _be confused.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Hello Miss Black-Lupin. Do you need something?"

It was the next Monday. I hadn't been able to find a spare moment to go talk to Moody yet, but I had free period that morning so I headed there first.. I had slept in so Sean, David, and Troy had all already gone down to breakfast, and I had come straight to Moody's office.

"Yeah, I have a quick question," I said, closing the door behind me. "Harry told me about what happened to Mr. Crouch, and I was just wondering if you ever found him."

"Mr. Potter came asking me the same thing the day afterward. Did he not tell you? I couldn't find him anywhere. Even with this." He pointed to his magical eye. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. Something wasn't right. Moody was up to something. "Something bothering you?"

"What? Oh, no, I'm just confused as to where he could've gone."

"What's _really _bothering you?" I stared at him blankly. "Do you suspect somebody to be behind it?" he asked, as if reading my mind. I nodded slowly, wondering if I should tell him. Then, I decided to just confront him about it, see what kind of lame excuse he would have.

"Yeah, actually, I do," I said suddenly.

"Who? Who is it?"

"You."

He stared at me, and his magical eye, which had been focusing on me, turned to the door instead. I wondered briefly what he was looking at, but didn't ask.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, you know about the map, Harry's map of the school, he said. Well, I was observing it last Wednesday, and I saw your name in here. But you weren't alone. Bartemius Crouch was here as well."

"Bring me that map," he said after a moment of silence, focusing his magical eye on me again. I shook my head.

"What makes you think I'd bring it to you?"

"Because you will, or I'll put you in detention." I shrugged.

"Fine. Not like I've never been in detention before."

"For the rest of the year." I shrugged again.

"I'm not bringing it." After a moment of hesitation and staring me down, Moody stood up. "Why do you want it?" I asked.

"It's obviously malfunctioning. There was _nobody _in here at all last Thursday besides me. I can assure you that."

"The map never lies. Crouch was here with you that night." Moody shook his head.

"Well, it must've been lying because I'm a retired Auror and I wouldn't lie about something like this. If I knew where Crouch was, I would tell Dumbledore." I stared at him, my mouth slightly open. "As for Crouch being here That night...Unless I fell asleep briefly, that didn't happen. Alright?" I closed my mouth and glared at him. He hadn't eased my suspicions, only made them worse. Why would he get so defensive if it weren't true? Why had he ordered me to bring him the map?

"Fine," I said, even though I still didn't believe it. "Thanks for your time." I got up and nearly ran from the room and down to the Great Hall.

I found David, Sean, and Troy talking to Addison and Adelaide halfway down the Gryffindor table. I sat down beside Sean quietly.

"You okay? You're being quiet," Adelaide asked after a moment.

"I'm fine," I said quietly. "Just...confused."

"About what?"

"Oh, it's nothing," I said, waving my hand. Adelaide shrugged and went back to her conversation with David.

"Hey Abbey." I turned around as Draco sat down on my other side. "How're you?"

"Good," I said happily, smiling at him, trying to cover up the fact that I was bothered by something. "You?"

"Fantastic." He looked at his watch. "You took too long to get down here and now I have to leave for Arithmancy already. I'll meet up with you later, alright?" I nodded and kissed him goodbye. The school had gotten used to us kissing by now, but that didn't mean they didn't talk about it. Riley and Sam hated it (so, naturally, we purposely kissed whenever they were around).

"You guys are so cute!" Addison squealed when he was gone. "Have I told you that?"

"Only every day for the past five," I laughed. She smiled.

"Well, it's true," she said. I smiled.

"Thanks."

I stayed with them long into the next class period before I got annoyed and went for a walk. I somehow ended up on the seventh floor and was still there when I saw Harry hurdling down the corridor toward me. I stopped in my tracks – he should've been in Divination with Riley.

"Hey Harry," I said as he passed me without even noticing me. "What's up?" He stopped in his tracks and turned to me and stared for a moment before waving his hand at me and saying,

"Walk with me. I need somebody to talk to."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	34. Chapter 34

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to sweetteetwo and Krelseybelle for the reviews!**

**As I said last time, sorry about the delay but my sister got married recently so I have a valid excuse! However, how about a nice, long chapter to make up for it?**

**By the way, we're getting to the part that I'm excited to write! ^_^ Just about another chapter or two!**

**Did anybody else hear about Pottermore? Doesn't it just sound pretty exciting? Maybe not _fantatsic_ – I was still hoping for another book (prequel!) even though it was confirmed that it wasn't one – but still something to look forward too after the final movie! On that note, who else is going to see it at midnight?**

Chapter 34

"_Walk with me. I need somebody to talk to."_

I was completely and utterly confused. Harry hadn't said a word since he had told me to walk with him, and that had been a good two minutes ago. I didn't know where we were going – he was walking pretty fast and I had to jog to keep up with him. We were still somewhere on the seventh floor, that's all I really knew.

"Harry?" I asked finally. "What's going on? Are you okay?" Harry seemed to ignore me until a few moments later when he stopped suddenly and spun on his heels to look me full in the face. I almost ran into him but managed to stop in time and took a few steps backward.

"You remember that dream I had the day before the World Cup? When I woke up with my scar hurting?" Confused, I nodded slowly. "Well, I fell asleep in Divination – _don't laugh! _It may be funny that I fell asleep, but what happened after that isn't funny." I stopped laughing instantly.

"What...what happened afterward?" I asked apprehensively.

"I had another dream. It was in the same place. Voldemort was there, so was Wormtail, and...and Nigini, the snake. Apparently, Wormtail made a mistake and Voldemort was saying it had been fixed, that somebody was dead, and that he wouldn't have to feed Wormtail to Nigini, but...but that there's still...still _me_. As in, still me to feed to Nigini." I felt my eyes widen involuntarily. "And then he tortured Wormtail, and I woke up to my scar _burning_."

"Remember what Father said after you told him about your first dream?" I said quietly. "You have to go to Dumbledore. _Now_."

"That's where I'm headed. Come on." He turned and started back the way he had been headed. Bewildered, I stared for a moment before I jogged to catch up, surprised he had wanted me to go with him. Well, I suppose I would since he had asked.

Harry stopped abruptly in front of the stone gargoyle that held the entrance to Dumbledore's office. I stopped next to him, angled slightly behind him.

"Sherbet lemon?" he tried tentatively. It didn't move. "Okay, pear drop. Er - licorice wand."

"Fizzing whizbee," I tried, just shooting out random candy. "Drooble's Best Blowing Gum."

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans… oh no, he doesn't like them, does he?… Oh just open, can't you?" Harry said angrily. "I really need to see him, its urgent!"

"That's not going to get it to open," I said when it didn't move. Annoyed, Harry kicked the gargoyle but only started limping on one leg. While he was rubbing his toe, I tried, "Sugar quill. Cocroach cluster!" Surprisingly, the gargoyle jumped to the side. "Really?" I asked. "I was only joking. Those things are gross."

"Don't complain," Harry said, grabbing my wrist with one hand and pulling me onto the moving staircase behind the gargoyle. As we reached the top, we could hear voices from Dumbledore's office. Without planning it, we listened in as we stepped off the staircase...

"Dumbledore, I'm afraid I don't see the connection, don't see it at all!" It was the voice of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. "Ludo says Bertha's perfectly capable of getting herself lost. I agree we would have expected to have found her by now, but all the same, we've no evidence of foul play, Dumbledore, none at all. As for her disappearance being linked with Barty Crouch's!"

I made eye contact with Harry's. Yeah, the two of us could see the connection alright, now that it was mentioned.

"And what do you thinks happened to Barty Crouch, Minister?" came Moody's voice. _Good question_, I thought. _What happened to him, Moody? I _know _you know_.

"I see two possibilities, Alastor," said Fudge. "Either Crouch has finally cracked - more than likely, I'm sure you'll agree, given his personal history -" I frowned. Dad had told me about his "personal history" in a letter – about how he and his wife had visited his son in Azkaban just before he died and how his wife died not long afterward. " – lost his mind, and gone wandering off somewhere -"

"He wandered extremely quickly, if that is the case, Cornelius," said Dumbledore calmly.

"Or else - well…" Fudge said, sounding embarrassed. "Well, I'll reserve judgment until after I've seen the place where he was found, but you say it was just past the Beauxbatons carriage? Dumbledore, you know what that woman is?"

"That doesn't mean anything," I grumbled under my breath.

"I consider her to be a very able headmistress - and an excellent dancer," said Dumbledore quietly. I couldn't help but smile – it's times like this where I wonder what we would do without Dumbledore – God forbid we ever have to worry about that.

"Dumbledore, come!" said Fudge angrily. "Don't you think you might be prejudiced in her favor because of Hagrid? They don't all turn out harmless - if, indeed, you can call Hagrid harmless, with that monster fixation he's got -" Oh, if I could say something right now...

"I no more suspect Madame Maxime than Hagrid," said Dumbledore, just as calmly. "I think it possible that it is you who are prejudiced, Cornelius."

"I think it's _probable _it's him who's prejudiced," Harry muttered to me. I nodded in response, still slightly angry at Fudge.

"Can we wrap up this discussion?" growled Moody.

"Yes, yes, let's go down to the grounds, then," said Fudge impatiently.

"No, it's not that," said Moody, "it's just that Potter and Miss Black-Lupin want a word with you, Dumbledore. They're just outside the door." I looked to Harry, who looked back at me and shrugged. We were bound to be caught listening eventually. The door opened and we entered slowly, me trailing slightly behind Harry.

"Hello Potter, Black-Lupin," Moody growled.

"Harry!" Fudge exclaimed. He ignored me – good, I had a mouthful for him if he tried to talk to me. "How are you?"

"Fine," Harry muttered. I knew he was lying.

"We were just talking about the night when Mr. Crouch turned up on the grounds," said Fudge. "It was you who found him, was it not?"

"Yeah," Harry said, then added, as though deciding it was pointless to pretend we hadn't been listening, "I didn't see Madame Maxime anywhere, though, and she'd have a job hiding, wouldn't she?" Dumbledore smiled at Harry, the usual twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes, well," said Fudge, looking embarrassed, "we're about to go for a short walk on the grounds, Harry, Miss Black-Lupin, if you'll excuse us… perhaps if you just go back to your classes - " I almost snorted – oh, sure, we came here just to see _you_.

"We wanted to talk to you, Professor," Harry said quickly, looking at Dumbledore, who gave him a swift, searching look, and then nodded, told us to wait here as they wouldn't be long, and then left. Harry and I stood in awkward silence for a moment before he went over to Dumbledore's phoenix and ran his fingers through its feathers lightly.

"Hello Fawkes," he muttered. I watched the snoozing portraits of the old headmasters and headmistresses. One of them looked awfully familiar. I found his name and stared at it. It read, "Phineas Nigellus Black."

"Hey Harry, do you suppose I'm related to this guy?"

"I dunno," Harry said, stepping up beside me to stare at him. "_Black _is a pretty popular surname, isn't it?"

"In the Muggle world, maybe," I said, "But not in the wizarding world."

"Oh. Well then I'd say probably."

"He kind of looks like Sirius," I said thoughtfully. "And he's in Slytherin colors. Remember how Father was the first Gryffindor in his family?" Harry merely nodded. "Did you ever realize how much incest there is in the wizarding world?" I said randomly.

"Right – and aren't you and Draco second cousins?"

"_Third_," I corrected. "Father's parents were third cousins too, and he turned out fine. Besides, it's not like we're married or anything." Harry didn't reply, but I could've sworn I heard him mutter,

"Not _yet_."

But even if he did, I ignored him. Not because I was being nice, but because something had caught my attention.

It was a patch of silvery light, and Harry seemed to notice it at the same time. It came from inside a tiny opening in a black cabinet behind us. I walked up to it and opened it without hesitation. Inside was a shallow stone basin with odd runes around the edges. The light came from the contents in the basin. I couldn't tell whether the substance was liquid or gas.

"Touch it," I said after a moment when Harry walked up behind me.

"What? Are you crazy? It'll probably kill me."

"Dumbledore wouldn't keep something that would kill somebody," I pointed out. Harry still shook his head skeptically.

"That'd be a stupid thing to do. It might burn me or something. Here." He pulled out his wand and prodded the substance. All it did was begin to swirl very fast, and became transparent. We shared a bewildered glance before we leaned toward it and looked down.

Instead of the stone bottom, we saw beneath it a huge room below the substance, with rows and rows of witches and wizards seated around every wall on benches. In the middle of the room sat an empty, solidarity chair with chains on the arms of it.

"Touch it," I whispered again. "I dare you to. If it was going to kill us, it would've already." Harry sighed and reached his finger out slowly and gently touched it. Somehow, he was thrown forward into the basin and disappeared. I shrieked and leaned forward to watch as I could see him falling down to the room.

_What_?

I glanced around for a moment, not sure what to do, before I closed my eyes and plunged my hand into the basin. The room gave a jerk and I felt myself be thrown forward. At first, I felt like I was falling, and then it stopped. I opened my eyes and found myself sitting next to Harry on one of the benches at the end of the room, high above the other benches.

"Harry..." I said after a moment. He turned to me, finally realizing I was there. "What the hell...?"

"I dunno," he answered, looking around. "What is this room?"

"A court room, smart one," I said sarcastically. "But how did we get here?" I looked around. Not one of the witches and wizards seemed to have noticed us fall into their midst from the ceiling. And then, to my surprise, I saw that beside Harry sat Dumbledore.

"Professor!" Harry exclaimed in a kind of strangled whisper. "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to - I was just looking at that basin in your cabinet - I - where are we?" But Dumbledore ignored him and instead stared into the far corner of the room, where there was door.

"Do you think we're in a memory?" Harry asked me after a moment.

"How would we – ?"

"I don't know, but remember when I told you about how I went into a memory from Tom Riddle's diary?" I frowned – that made sense, but how did we get into a memory?

"I don't know," I said after a moment, shaking my head.

Before we could say anything else, we heard footsteps. The door in the corner swung open and three people entered – or, at least, one person with a Dementor on either side of him. I saw Harry freeze, his eyes wide, and I swallowed nervously. Even though we couldn't feel them, we could both remember the affects Dementors had on us.

"It's Karkaroff!" I exclaimed once the Dementors had left, suddenly recognizing the man chained to the chair in the middle. "A younger Karkaroff at least."

"Igor Karkaroff," a voice to Harry's left said. Harry and I looked around and saw Mr. Crouch standing up in the middle of the bench beside him. Crouch's hair was dark, his face was much less lined, he looked fit and alert. "You have been brought from Azkaban to present evidence to the Ministry of Magic. You have given us to understand that you have important information for us."

"I do, sir," Karkaroff said, and even though he sounded afraid, I could still recognize it. "I wish to be of use to the Ministry. I wish to help. I - I know that the Ministry is trying to - to round up the last of the Dark Lords supporters. I am eager to assist in any way I can…"

Then suddenly I heard, from sitting next to me, a familiar growling voice say, "Filth." I spun around and found myself face-to-face with Moody.

"Crouch is going to let him out," Moody breathed quietly to Dumbledore. "He's done a deal with him. Took me six months to track him down, and Crouch is going to let him go if he's got enough new names. Let's hear his information, I say, and throw him straight back to the Dementors."

I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the rest of the court case, even when Snape was accused. Instead, I was watching Moody. Something was...different...about him, and it wasn't that he was younger or had two real eyes instead of a fake one. Something was..._off_, either with this Moody or the one in our time, but I couldn't decide what.

Suddenly, the scene started to fade, and before long another one appeared. It was the same room, only this time Harry and I were seated in a different seat, this time to the left of Mr. Crouch.

"It's a different trial," Harry said suddenly as the door opened and this time, none other than Ludo Bagman entered. Crouch and Bagman exchanged a few words, but I knew Bagman couldn't be a Death Eater. He didn't have that sense about him. I'd seen Death Eaters before and they all looked and acted somewhat similar.

After a few minutes of me listening faintly and laughing slightly when somebody congratulated Bagman for his performance in his last Quidditch match, causing Mr. Crouch to look furious, the scene dissolved again. When it came back, Harry and I were seated in the same place, but the atmosphere was completely different. It was completely silent, the only sound being the dry sobs of a wispy looking witch sitting next to Crouch. Her hands were shaking as she clutched a handkerchief to her mouth.

"Bring them in," Crouch said as I turned to look at him. He looked gaunter and grayer than ever before. The door in the corner opened yet again. This time, a group of four people entered with six Dementors flanking them. I saw the people in the crowd turn to look up at Mr. Crouch. A few of them whispered to one another. It took me a minute, but I soon understood.

"It's Crouch's son's case," I muttered to Harry, looking back to the people who were being chained to the chairs. There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous-looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a familiar-looking woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a thrown; and –

I found myself gasping, my eyes wide.

The last one was a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. He was pale, had straw-colored hair and lots of freckles. I knew him from somewhere, and I knew where.

He was the one who Draco, Riley and I had ran into in the forest after the World Cup.

He was _obviously _Crouch's son. I could easily spot the resemblance. That's why I had always found some strange connection between the two of them, but I had never realized what it was.

But wasn't Crouch's son dead? He died in Azkaban. Then how had he been in the forest after the World Cup? It didn't make any sense...

"You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law," Mr. Crouch said clearly, "so that we may pass judgment on you, for a crime so heinous – " _What did they do_? I wondered, but I was too busy trying to figure out how Crouch's son could've been there if he died...

"Father," his son said. "Father...please..."

" – that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court," said Crouch, speaking more loudly, drowning out his son's voice. I frowned. "We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror - Frank Longbottom - and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named – "

"Father, I didn't!" the boy in chains shrieked. "I didn't, I swear it. Father, don't send me back to the Dementors – !"

"You are further accused," Mr. Crouch bellowed, "of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife, when he would not give you information. You planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to power, and to resume the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong."

I heard Harry gasp and turned to him.

"Do you think that's Neville's dad?" he asked quietly. I nodded slowly.

"Probably. That's probably why he grew up with his grandmother."

"I never asked...I never thought to ask him why..." Harry muttered. I didn't know what to say.

"Mother!" screamed the boy below, and the wispy little witch beside Crouch began to sob, rocking backward and forward. "Mother, stop him. Mother, I didn't do it, it wasn't me!"

"I now ask the jury," shouted Mr. Crouch, "to raise their hands if they believe, as I do, that these crimes deserve a life sentence in Azkaban!" As one, the witches and wizards along the right-hand side of the courtroom raised their hands. The crowd began to clap.

The boy began to scream. "No! Mother, no! I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't know! Don't send me there, don't let him!" I frowned – how could you send your own son to Azkaban like that?

The Dementors glided back into the room. The boy's three companions rose quietly from their seats. The familiar-looking woman looked up at Crouch and screamed, "The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!" I shivered at the thought of any of that, watching the boy try to fight off the Dementors but being very unsuccessful...

"I'm your son!" he screamed up at Crouch. "I'm your son!"

"You are no son of mine!" bellowed Mr. Crouch, his eyes bulging suddenly. "I have no son!"

How hard that would be. Even if he was a Death Eater, Crouch Jr. looked terrified and I would've felt bad for him if he hadn't caused so many people so much pain. And now, somehow, he was alive and well again. I wondered if I should tell somebody...

"I think, Abbey, Harry, it is time to return to my office," said a quiet voice in my ear. I jumped and looked beside me to see Dumbledore sitting between us looking back and forth between us, and then another Dumbledore sitting beside Harry, watching the Dementors take Crouch's son away. "Come." The Dumbledore between us grabbed each of us under our elbows and somehow pulled us up and out of the basin into his office again.

"Professor," Harry gasped. "I know I should't've – I didn't mean – _she _made me – " he pointed toward me. I gasped.

"I didn't _make _you – I just _dared _you – "

"The cabinet was open, and – "

"Curiosity is not a sin, Abbey, Harry," Dumbledore said calmly. He lifted the basin and took it over to his desk, setting it down on top of it and sitting down. He motioned for us to sit opposite him. My mind was still reeling about Crouch's son. Nothing added up...

"What is it?" Harry asked after a moment, looking at the basin.

"This? It is called a Pensieve," said Dumbledore. "I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind."

"Er," Harry said, obviously thinking that he'd never felt that before. I somewhat understood what Dumbledore was talking about.

"Can I leave?" I asked after a minute. "I mean, not to be rude, but I have a class soon – " That was honestly true, but I really wanted to get out of there. I felt awkward and out of place. This was something for Dumbledore and Harry alone.

"Of course," Dumbledore said, motioning toward the door. I stood up slowly and headed over to the door. Before I left, I turned back a moment.

"Crouch's son died, right?" Dumbledore nodded slowly and sadly, not saying anything. "And...can I ask a question about the court case?"

"You could."

"Was it...was it Neville's parents that...that they tortured?" I asked quietly. Dumbledore turned to Harry.

"Did Neville ever tell you why he was brought up by his grandmother?" he asked. Harry shook his head slowly. Dumbledore frowned slightly. "Yes, they were talking about Neville's parents. His father, Frank, was an Auror just like Professor Moody. He and his wife were tortured for information about Voldemort's whereabouts after he lost his powers, as you heard."

"Are they...are they dead?" Harry asked after a moment.

"No," Dumbledore said, his voice full of bitterness. "They're insane. They are both in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I believe Neville visits them, with his grandmother, during the holidays. They do not recognize him..." I felt like crying, and I couldn't remember the last time I had cried. That's horrible...

"The Longbottom's were very popular," Dumbledore said. "The attacks on them came after Voldemort's fall from power, just when everyone thought they were safe. Those attacks caused a wave of fury such as I have never known. The Ministry was under great pressure to catch those who had done it. Unfortunately, the Longbottoms' evidence was - given their condition - none too reliable." I swallowed, nodded, and turned to leave.

"Abbey." I turned back for a moment. "Please do not speak about Neville's parents to anybody else. He has the right to let people know, when he is ready." I nodded slowly and left quickly.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

That night, I asked Harry to lend me the Marauders' Map. He did so without question, used to me asking for it.

I was still confused, but I had a plan.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	35. Chapter 35

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to Annelili for the review! **

**Guess what? If you've missed Remus, this chapter finally shows him again! ^_^ **

Chapter 35

Just before I left, I figured it'd be a good idea to also have the Invisibility Cloak. I asked Harry for it and he gave it to me without question, just like he had the Map. I shoved the mirror Dad and Father had given me into my pocket, just in case. As soon as I was out the Portrait Hole, I threw the Cloak over myself and opened the map.

"Bartemius Crouch" was, once again, in Moody's office with "Alastor Moody" doing the exact same thing as the last time I had used the Map; Crouch was pacing, Moody was not moving at all. Now, after a fair bit of thought during a pointless Potions lesson earlier that day, I knew that the Bartemius Crouch I was seeing on the map was really Mr. Crouch's son, so it was Barty Crouch _Jr_., as Crouch Sr. was probably dead (I figured that's who Voldemort was talking about being dead in Harry's dream) – maybe I should ask Dad if he could make the map put "Jr." and "Sr." on the end of names this summer. It'd be very useful...

I crept quietly through the castle toward Moody's office, keeping my eye on the map for Prefects or teachers or ghosts. I knew I shouldn't – I knew it was wrong – but I was going to eavesdrop on Moody. Even though I knew he could see through walls with that crazy eye of his, he couldn't see through Invisibility Cloaks – that's why they're called _Invisibility _Cloaks.

I had to take the long way because my usual shortcut was blocked by Peeves, who, I saw, was bouncing up and down putting chewed gum in locks on random doors. I probably could've pretended to be the Bloody Baron and got him to stop, but, being the daughter of two Marauders, I found it quite funny and let him be. As long as he didn't start throwing the gum at me, I didn't give a crap what he did, especially if Filch was the one to find him.

Halfway there, I thought about Neville. Poor, innocent Neville. He wasn't one of my _best _friends, but I did talk to him here and there. And I never had any impression that his parents were insane. And I felt _horrible_ for never bothering to ask. I wondered if _anybody _had asked him about it. If they did, they hid the fact that they knew really well, because that's tough information to hoard for a long time like Neville had.

I vowed to become closer to him and to not let him suffer in silence any longer.

As I entered the corridor that Moody's office was in, I looked down at the Map and saw that Barty Crouch was leaving the office. I stopped in my tracks, backed up against the wall behind a statue of armor, and looked down the corridor, waiting to see the familiar, freckled face headed my way as the Map had said.

Instead, I saw Moody coming toward me.

Confused, I glanced down at the Map again, but it still said Barty Crouch was headed in my direction and Moody was still in his office. But my eyes clearly said something else...

Just before Moody – Crouch? – passed my hiding place, I shoved the Map into my pocket without cleaning it off. Not like somebody could get it from there without me noticing.

To my surprise, Moody came to a stop right in front of me and slowly turned toward me. His fake, blue eye bore straight into my wide, gray ones.

So maybe his eye _could _see through Invisibility Cloaks...

"Hello Miss Black-Lupin." I swallowed. "Might I ask what you're doing out this late?" I didn't answer but stared at him, my eyes still wide. "Nice cloak. Borrowed it from Potter, did you? Did you also borrow his Map?" I still didn't answer. Moody sighed. "Come to my office with me." I didn't move. "If you don't come, I'll give you detention." _Not like I care_, I thought. _I've had plenty of detentions before. _Nonetheless, I followed slowly behind him as he backtracked his steps to his office and held the door open for me to enter.

I quickly looked around for "Moody" but didn't see him anywhere. The only thing in the place his name had been was a huge, black trunk. As I heard the door close behind me, I took off the Invisibility Cloak. Moody – Crouch? I still didn't know which one he was. The Map never lies, but it was _Moody_ before me, not Crouch – told me to sit down in the seat opposite his desk and said he'd be right back, disappearing into the door that led to his living quarters.

While he was gone, even though I knew he could probably see me, I whispered, "Dad. Dad. Dad," hoping that, maybe, he would hear it through his mirror and come to it. But he didn't. I tried again. "Father. Father. Father," I whispered more urgently. Still no answer. "Father! _Dad!_"

"Abbey?" a muffled, though there, voice said from where I knew I had put the mirror. I sighed, relieved.

"Dad," I whispered, "if you can hear me, I need you to listen, but be _very_ quiet." I knew, already, this would be quite an interesting conversation that I would need another opinion on.

"Abbey? Is something wrong?" He sounded worried.

"_Shh_!" I hissed as Moody came back into the room, taking a giant swig from his hip-flask, and knew I wouldn't be able to say anything else to him, but hoping he would understand that I wanted him to listen.

"Well, Miss Black-Lupin, I know you have the Map and were looking at it just before I came out of my office. But there's something I _don't _know – what did you see?"

"On the _Map_?" I asked, trying to sound confused. "What map?" Moody sighed, sitting down across from me.

"_Don't_ – lie – to – me," he said forcefully, sounding nothing like the Moody I knew. Maybe it was Crouch, not Moody, disguised somehow. "I _know _you know exactly what map I'm talking about. You were looking at it until right before I passed you out in the corridor. Now, _what – did – you – see?_"

"Well, I know what I _didn't _see," I said angrily, inventing some crazy story out of nowhere. "Y'see, Draco was supposed to meet me in the empty classroom down the corridor from here at _nine_, and, as you can see, it's _nine-thirty_, and he never showed up. So I was using the Map to look for him – he was in his Common Room – " I said quickly so Draco wouldn't get into trouble too. " – when I saw you coming toward me."

"I _know _that's not all you saw," Moody growled. I paused, as though thinking.

"Well, I saw Peeves and Filch," I answered. "It seems Filch caught Peeves doing something, for Peeves was bouncing up and down in the same corridor as Filch and – "

"I don't give a shit what Peeves and Filch were doing," Moody snapped. I stared at him, shocked, as he continued. "_What did you see in my office?_ I must have dosed off and when I woke up, things seemed...different in here." _Liar_.

"Well...I – I saw Barty Crouch, sir," I said quietly, looking down. "But since last time I saw his name and I asked you about it, you told me the Map must be malfunctioning, I figured, y'know, that it was again. Besides, Crouch has disappeared and Barty Crouch Jr. died in Azkaban, so how could Barty Crouch be in here?" I asked, pretending to be convinced. Obviously, "Moody" didn't believe me.

"Last time, you told me the Map never lies."

"Well, it doesn't," I said. "But, I mean, what else could have been going on? You swore nobody else was in here that night. And you're a teacher, _and _a retired Auror, why would you lie about that?"

"I think you know something that you shouldn't, and you just don't want to tell me," Moody said suspiciously after a moment of silence. I stared at him.

"Well, I do," I muttered. "Sort of." When I said nothing more, Moody pushed,

"Well? What is it?" I sighed and answered slowly.

"You remember what happened after the Quidditch World Cup? Well, of course you do. Well, I was with Riley and we got separated from everybody else and ended up deep into the woods, where we ran into Draco. After a few minutes of arguing with him, a young man, probably in his early-to-mid-thirties, with freckles and blonde-ish hair. He kind of threatened us, but then disappeared."

"What does he have to do with anything?" Moody snapped, but I noticed his one real eye widen slightly in fright.

"Well, when Harry and I were in Dumbledore's office earlier today, we kind of saw his Pensieve and, well, I'm sure you know what we did when we saw it. And we fell into a memory of a trial, in which Mr. Crouch's son was being tried. And I saw that, even though he supposedly died a while back, he was the very same man who Riley and Draco and I had seen in the forest that day. And now, with all of these appearances of 'Bartemius Crouch' on the map even though Mr. Crouch, Sr., is missing, I've been completely and utterly confused."

There was silence after his words for several minutes until, finally, Moody said,

"You've a very bright witch, Miss Black-Lupin." He paused. "But I can tell you know something more." I stared at him but said nothing more. After a moment, Moody said quietly, "You still suspect me, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" I exclaimed suddenly, surprising even myself. "How could I not? Every time I look at the Map, 'Bartemius Crouch' is in here pacing, and 'Alastor Moody' is over in _that _corner!" I pointed to where the black trunk sat. "Which, unless you're _in _that trunk, it's hard to be in that corner! And when I looked at the Map earlier, it didn't say 'Alastor Moody' was coming toward me, it said 'Bartemius Crouch' was!"

I slapped a hand to my mouth, my eyes wide, to stop myself from saying something else. But what else _could _I say? I just had spilled it all to him. And I had _not _meant to say that. _Any _of that. I wasn't going to tell anybody, except maybe Dad, but it had slipped out, and it was too late now.

"Moody" stared at me for several moments. Actually, the silence lasted so long I wondered if he had been immobilized or something, but finally he looked at his watch just before he stood up and leaned over his desk toward me, his palms on it. I swallowed and leaned back slightly. Shit, this wasn't supposed to happen.

"You will tell _nobody _about what you're about to see," he muttered to me. Confused, I opened my mouth to ask what he's talking about, but I was suddenly so overwhelmed by shock that I couldn't speak.

Maybe I was seeing it. But, right before my eyes, the scars on Moody's face seemed to be slowly disappearing. And then they were gone completely, and I _knew _I wasn't seeing things. His face became smoother, and he sat back down, pulled off the fake eye, revealing a closed eyelid behind it, and unbuckled his wooden leg, letting it drop noisily to the ground. His hair was withdrawing into his scalp and turning into a very familiar color of straw. The nose became whole and began to shrink, and I could see a leg growing out of the stump. Freckles appeared on his face, and a new eye began to grow...

Before me sat Barty Crouch, Jr..

I shrieked, not having expected it, and leaned backward as he stood back up and looked toward me, an evil smile on his face. The chair I was sitting in tipped over and I landed on my back with a "_BANG_!" I scrambled back to my feet and backed up, pulling my wand out of my pocket and pointing it at him. But before I could do anything, he had flicked his wand almost lazily and mine flew into his outstretched hand.

"Come and sit back down, _Abigail_." I stared at him in disgust but didn't go anywhere near him.

"You – you – !"

"Yes, _me_," he said, bored, setting both wands down on the desk in front of him. "Surprised to see somebody your own _father _told you was dead?" I continued to stare at him. "Yes, I'm sure Black saw my body being carried out of Azkaban. Even though it wasn't, really, _my _body."

"W-What?" I asked shakily.

"My mother was dying. She convinced Father to rescue me as a dying wish for her. He finally agreed, and they came to visit me. We each took a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing a piece of the others' hair, and traded places. Mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban, and Father staged her death."

"Father will be upset," I muttered. "He takes pride in being the first one to escape Azkaban. Although I suppose he was the first to do it without help."

"Father controlled me with the Imperious Curse, but it becomes easier to fight after prolonged expossure. He never thought I'd get away and leave to rejoin my master, find and capture Moody and take his place as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. And now, I'm helping my master get Harry Potter to him so he can get his body back again and come back to power. I even had the pleasure of murdering my own father and Transfiguring him into a bone, burying him in front of Hagrid's hut."

I shivered involuntarily. Was he planning to do that to me, since he was telling me all of this?

"You don't think I'm going to tell somebody this?" I muttered after a moment. "You're trying to lead somebody who's like my _brother _to the person that will, inevitably, _murder_ him. Of course I'm going to tell somebody!"

"Oh, are you now?" Crouch asked maliciously. I swallowed. I didn't like the tone of his voice. "Did you stop to think that, as Moody, I can get everybody you love into my office quite easily. Riley, Samson, Harry, both of your fathers, most of the Weasleys, all of your friends, _Draco_. They won't know what's happening until the green light hits them."

"Green light?"

"The Killing Curse." I felt my eyes widen and I gulped again. "Never thought of that, did you? Would you rather only loose Harry, or loose everybody you love?" I stared at him again.

"But – but – that's no option! How am I supposed to choose? I'd rather give myself up!"

"I'll kill you now, if you like," he suggested. "Just remember, if I do, Harry will still be sent to my master. So either way, Harry's going to die."

"How're you going to know if I've told somebody?" I asked quickly, smiling triumphantly. "You might be able to _see _better than regular humans, but you can't _hear _better than them."

"Oh, I'll know," he said. "Believe me." He motioned toward all of the expensive magic detectors around the room. I cursed under my breath.

"If that was you in the forest," I asked quietly, "why did you want to know if Riley and I were...well, who we are?" 

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "Your fathers are both highly powerful wizards. They were up with Moody and Dumbledore and the Potters and Longbottoms in the fight against my master. Master doesn't want them messing things up again, and with both of their blood in you, you three children are bound to be just as much of a nuisance. Or maybe just _you _are as much of a nuisance. Or, if he could get you to, you would be excellent servants to the Dark Lord. You know, Death Eaters. Plus, Master thinks if he had one of you to hold captive, maybe your fathers wouldn't be so much into the fight. Or maybe just hand themselves over. So, as you can see, you three are almost as sought after as Harry."

Yep, if Voldemort had one of us and asked them to, I could just see them handing themselves over. And, if he could convince one of us, we could be very useful "servants" to him.

"If that's true," I asked quietly, "and you were trying to capture Riley and I then, why are you just going to let me go free after this?"

"I don't know," he said. "Don't question it, or maybe I _won't _let you go free." I shut my mouth quickly. "Now, give me that map."

"No, if I go back without it, Harry will be suspicious. Do you want him to be suspicious?" Crouch frowned.

"Fine. But if he gets any clue as to what's going on, _you'll _be the one to die. Got it?" I nodded slowly. He tossed my wand back to me and I caught it effortlessly. "Get back up to your Common Room before you're missed. And don't forget, if you tell_ anybody_, I will know." I nodded quickly before I threw the cloak over me and scrambled from the room and up to the Portrait Hole.

The Common Room was nearly empty as I handed the Map and Cloak back to Harry. I think Riley, who was sitting with Fred, noticed that I seemed worried about something, but didn't say anything as I headed up to my dormitory. I put Silencing charms around my bed when the other girls weren't looking, pulled the curtains closed, and pulled the mirror out of my pocket to find Dad's pale face staring back at me with wide eyes.

**A/N: So, I suppose Remus wasn't in it too much. But he'll be in the next chapter more, I promise!**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	36. Chapter 36

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to peanutfreak for the review! **

**This is completely off topic, but are any HP fans out there also Hunger Games fans? I just finished Mockingjay...can't decide if I liked the ending or not...did you?**

Chapter 36

"Dad," I whispered, "What are we supposed to do?"

"We _have_ to tell!" he said quickly. "Otherwise Harry will be sent to Voldemort! Do you want that?" I closed my eyes briefly and shook my head before opening them again, still shaking my head.

"No, I don't," I said quietly. "But what else do we do? If we tell, then Moody – Crouch – will kill Harry anyways! _Plus _Riley and Sam and – What if _you _tell, but _I _don't? Do you suppose he'll still know then?" I squeezed my eyes shut when I saw him nodding his head slowly. "How will he know, though?"

"Those detectors are strong," Dad said. "Mad-Eye Moody wouldn't buy just any detectors, he would make sure they worked. And good. And I realize he's not really Mad-Eye, but he has to convince people that he is, and we know those are his things." At my blank stare, he shook his head and said, "In other words, yes, he would know even if I told."

"Damn it!" I cursed. When I saw him raise his eyebrows, I shrugged. "What? Like _you _wouldn't cuss if you were in this situation!"

"In case you haven't noticed," he pointed out, "I kind of _am_." I didn't say anything. It was silent for a moment until I finally asked,

"Do you think it's going to happen during the third task? That Harry will be brought to Voldemort?" Dad frowned, his eyebrows furrowed in thought for a moment before he replied,

"Now I do! Shit," he cursed. I smiled. "Oh shut it. We need to come up with some sort of plan so we can tell, without raising suspicion on those detectors. Before the final task."

"That's less than a month away," I muttered. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Okay, here's an idea," Dad said thoughtfully. "Those detectors work as something happens. So what if you make sure you get a detention from him somehow, and then, on the night of your detention, _I'll _tell somebody. He can't blame you for telling somebody when you're right there!"

"That's an idea," I said. "Hang on – do you suppose the detectors can detect us coming up with this plan right now? Can they tell I'm talking to you about it?" 

"No, they shouldn't, since I already knew," he said, waving his hand impatiently. "He said he would know if you _told _somebody, and you're making a plan, which isn't, technically, _telling_ somebody. Besides, his magic eye can see through walls, and if he looked, all he would see you doing would be checking your hair or makeup or something in the mirror."

"So...do you think we could come up with a better plan, or do you think that'll work?" I asked after a moment. "You could do it while I was in class, too. Then he won't even be in his office."

"No, he won't, but when he goes into his office afterward and sees his detectors going off, he'll think that sometime when you weren't in his class but he wasn't in his office, like during another class or something, you told somebody. Even if he's not really Mad-Eye, he's obviously smart."

"Oh, dang it," I muttered.

"Alright, when do you have Moody next?"

"Friday," I answered. Dad groaned.

"Alright, it'll have to do. Unless you can somehow make sure you do something when he's the only teacher around, which is difficult, just do something in his class to get a detention. I don't even care what it is, I don't even care if a letter gets sent home, just be sure you get a detention."

"Okay," I replied, "the only problem is, if I do something bad enough to get a detention, he's likely to turn me into a ferret or something." I cringed at the thought.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. I quickly explained the story of "Malfoy, the amazing bounding ferret," as Ron called it.

"Just be prepared to dodge any spells from him coming your way," he said when I was finished. "And somehow make sure your detention is in his office, alright?" I nodded. "Now, it's getting late, you should be going to bed." I rolled my eyes. It wasn't getting late. Oh well.

"Fine. Goodnight Dad. Love you."

"'Night Abbey, love you too. Remember to be careful."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Friday came a lot quicker than I would have expected. Maybe it was because I was anticipating Friday. I acted out in class all the time, and this time, I had permission from Dad – _Dad_, not _Father _– to do so. I was also a little nervous. Not that he would turn me into a ferret, or rat, or something, but that he would get angry at me and kill somebody I loved anyways. Surely he wouldn't, though?

Let's just say, it's a good thing I'm a good actor and good at hiding my feelings, because nobody noticed anything strange that entire week. And if anybody did, I would attribute it to the fact that the third task was coming up in about a month, and my brother was going to be fighting to survive.

And then there I was on Friday sitting in the middle row next to Sean in Defense Against the Dark Arts. I found myself wondering what to do to ensure myself a detention. I couldn't call out in class, that would just ensure points taken from Gryffindor.

I had already not done my homework. I didn't think that would be enough. Next, I planned to send notes to Sean (which we already did anyway) except this time I planned on getting caught. Although that might get Sean in trouble too. But I would just make sure I wrote something horrible about Moody or something on it. Plus, it was nearing a full moon, so I was already moody (no pun intended), which could finally be of some use to me.

"Alright, pass your essays to the center and I'll come down the aisle to collect them," Moody said as soon as class had started. Sean looked to me, his eyebrows rose – I had told him beforehand that I didn't feel like doing it, so I wasn't going to. I shook my head slightly and he rolled his eyes. He, however, had no room to talk – he had only written about half of what he was supposed to.

"Miss Black-Lupin, do you have your essay?" Moody asked as he collected them. I shook my head slowly.

"No, sir, I don't."

"Can I ask why?" I shrugged.

"You can, yes." I could feel his magical eye on me even though his back was to me. He didn't take points off for my cheek, though.

"Why?"

"I just didn't want to." I could feel all the eyes in the classroom on me in surprise. I always did my work, even though I complained about it all the time.

"Well, Miss Black-Lupin, you'll have to make that up in a detention with me. My office, tonight, seven o'clock." Just what I wanted. I nodded.

"Alright."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"What, were you _trying _to get a detention or something?" Draco asked me during dinner that night after I had told him about what had happened in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Maybe I was," I said indignantly, crossing my arms.

"Why would you want a detention?" Crabbe asked, shoving some dessert into his mouth. I frowned at him.

"She was being sarcastic," Blaise said matter-of-factly, staring at Crabbe in disbelief.

"Oh."

"Anyway, it's not a big deal," I said, shrugging. "It's not like I've never had a detention before. All I have to do is write the essay. It's easy, it'll only take me a few minutes." I had already told Dad about the detention at seven. He told me I would have to delay it out because he was planning on telling Father first, and then they would probably go to Dumbledore, and he was afraid that would set it off too.

"If it's so easy, why didn't you do it in the first place?" Draco asked. I shrugged.

"I didn't want to." I saw Draco roll his eyes out of the corner of my eyes. "Not to mention I've had a lot going on lately."

"Like what? You haven't told me about anything." He actually sounded _betrayed_, and I felt pretty bad, which is something I've never felt around the full moon before in my life. "I can tell you've been hiding something from me, but I can't figure out what it is."

"You're good at hiding the fact that you know," I pointed out.

"So you're admitting that you're hiding something?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. I looked around and saw not only Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle listening to us, but about half of the Great Hall. Many, like the nearby Ravenclaws, tried to hide the fact that they had been listening, but the Slytherins didn't even bother hiding it.

"I don't think we should talk about this here," I said quietly.

"Why?" he asked angrily, his voice raising instead of lowering. Even some Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs on the other side of the room were now listening in. It's not like I'm not used to the stares, I just didn't like people I didn't know knowing my personal business. "Why can't we talk about it here?"

"Shh," I said, noticing Moody staring at me with both eyes from the staff table. "Look, I can't tell you here, especially not with everybody listening."

"Then where? When?" I leaned in closer to answer so that only Blaise and Crabbe and Goyle would be able to hear us, but Draco started shaking his head slowly. "You know what? I don't care right now. I'll see you later, alright?" He stood up slowly.

I stared up at him, my mouth slightly open. I knew my devastation showed on my face. Why did I even have to open my fat mouth and tell him about the detention?

"Crabbe, Goyle, come on," he snapped, motioning for them to stand up. They each glanced at me, looking slightly worried, but then hurried to stand up. "I'll see you two later." He left, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. I couldn't help but realizing it was the first time since my birthday that he hadn't kissed me goodbye. I turned to Blaise quickly.

"What's his problem?" I demanded. Blaise sighed, looking as though he felt sorry for me – or maybe he felt sorry for Draco – and shook his head slowly.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I have an idea, but I don't know for sure." I expected him to say something more, like what his suspicion was, but instead he just finished the food on his plate. Finally, after a moment, I asked,

"And what's that?" Blaise blinked, looked around to make sure nobody was listening, and leaned toward me slightly.

"I don't think I should tell you," he said quietly, as though it were a big secret. I slammed my fist onto the table, turning most of the eyes in the room back onto me.

"Like hell you won't!" I said quietly but angrily. "I'll get it out of you if it's the last thing I do." I had almost completely forgotten about my detention with Moody before Blaise spat,

"You're keeping something from him, he's keeping something from you. You're even. Why bother messing with each other?" He paused. "By the way, if you don't leave for your detention now, you're going to be late. Or miss it altogether." I huffed as I stood up, throwing my bag over my shoulder.

"Don't think this is the end of the interrogation," I muttered, frustrated, just before I stalked out of the room behind Sam and Katie, who were holding hands. When Sam noticed I was behind him, he hung back to walk beside me. I wasn't surprised when he asked me about what had just happened between Malfoy and I. I sighed and answered angrily,

"Nothing! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to be going." I quickly walked away from him and Katie, knowing they were staring after me. I heard Katie whisper to Sam as I left,

"Is she alright?" But Sam's answer got cut off as I rounded a corner bitterly and marched right up to Moody's office. I didn't even bother knocking and instead threw the door open irritably, slamming it shut behind me.

"Miss Black-Lupin. You're early."

"I'm pissed," I snapped. "Don't try to talk to me." He's not a teacher, why do I care about what he says or does?

I slumped into a seat across from him at his desk, pulled out a quill, ink, and parchment and started writing my essay. I had only gotten about two lines into it when Moody asked,

"And what are you pissed about?"

"Stuff that's not any of your business, whether you're Moody or Crouch."

"Does it have to do with Mr. Malfoy? You two seemed pretty upset with each other at dinner."

"I said it's none of your business," I said. "Leave me alone."

"I think – "

"I said, _leave – me – alone_," I snarled through gritted teeth. Moody shut up immediately. Maybe he knew pissing off a Black-Lupin when they were already angry by the full moon was _not _a good idea.

We worked in silence for the rest of the time. I tried to stall, but fifteen minutes later I was already about halfway done and the detectors had yet to go off. I kept glancing up at them, repeatedly, every five or so seconds. After about three minutes, Moody noticed. He put his quill down, as he had been grading papers, and asked,

"Why do you keep looking at my detectors?" I looked up from my essay, not realizing how obvious it was that I had been looking at them. I quickly came up with a cover-up.

"What are they? I mean, know some of them. But what are those three?" I motioned to three of them at random, even though there were plenty more than that. Not only was that a good cover story, but it would take some time for him to explain them. Moody spun around in his chair, looked at the three had I had motioned to, and opened his mouth to explain, but...

The sneakoscope, which I recognized immediately, began to whistle. I saw Moody tense and turn to me, lifting his wand. I was sure to look confused and scared, putting my hands up in a surrender position.

"Who did you tell?" he snapped. I shook my head slowly.

"No-nobody!" I stammered. "How could I? Even if I did, nobody would believe me!"

The other devices began to spring to life. Swirling, changing colors, whistling, morphing. Moody knew immediately that somebody knew. But I could tell he was confused. I was right here, and if somebody knew, it would be going off right as I had told him. Still, he knew the only way that somebody knew was if I had told them. So, his wand stayed on me.

"The only way anybody knows is if you told them. _Who did you tell?_"

"I've been right here in front of you! You know those things work right as somebody finds out, so I would've had to _just _told somebody, or be telling them now! And, quite obviously, I _can't _have told anybody within the past few minutes! Who do you think you're kidding?" Moody sighed and started to lower his wand, but his gadgets just started going off even more. He rose his wand again.

"Hmm...I think the Cruciatus curse might get you to tell me who knows, don't you think?"

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	37. Chapter 37

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to peanutfreak and Jessica682 for the reviews! **

**I saw the * cries * last Harry Potter movie at the midnight showing. It was FUCKING AMAZING! (excuse my language) Anyhoo, if you haven't seen it yet...bring tissues.**

**Sorry about not having this up a week after, but it's not too late. **

Chapter 37

I felt my eyes widen involuntarily.

Had he just said what I thought he had?

Surely not!

But his wand didn't lower even a millimeter. And I knew, if I didn't tell him or come up with some quick, _amazing_ way to get out of there, he wouldn't hesitate to resort to the Cruciatus.

"_Please_," I said quietly, staring from his wand to his eyes. I shook my head slowly. "Please, I didn't tell _anybody_! How can I convince you that I didn't?" He still didn't lower his wand. I could see the words forming on his lips before he said them, and knew there was only one way out of this.

"_Crucio!_" he exclaimed.

As soon as I knew for sure it was coming, I pushed my feet against the floor and tipped the chair I was in over backwards. The jet of light zoomed right over me, missing me by a mere inch. I couldn't stop the shriek that escaped my lips as I scrambled to my feet and started to run from the room, jumping out of the way when I heard him yell, "_Crucio_!" again.

I slammed the door to his office shut behind me in an attempt to delay him at least a few minutes, but it didn't work much. I had only gotten a few more steps out than I would've had I not slammed the door when he was hot on my tail again.

As he chased me down the corridor, Moody had stopped shouting the Cruciatus Curse for fear that somebody would overhear. But he did keep yelling, "Miss Black-Lupin, get back here this instant!"

I didn't listen. I just hoped to run into a teacher, or any staff member, and soon.

I didn't realize that it wasn't past curfew, and that a few students would still be out. I didn't realize, that is, until I found myself in an otherwise empty corridor face-to-face with Draco.

He was staring at me, obviously confused as to why I was running away from Professor Moody and why I looked so horrified. I stopped completely for a second when I first saw him, but then heard Moody yell,

"Miss Black-Lupin, you – !" But he cut off as he rounded the corner, must've thought it was empty, and instead yelled, "_Crucio!_" I pushed myself suddenly against the wall, and the curse flew past me. Even from such a distance I could see Draco's eyes widen in shock from hearing such a curse.

As soon as Moody spotted him standing there, he froze from surprise. He obviously hadn't seen him.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Draco asked sharply after a long moment of awkward silence.

"Come with me to my office," Moody said after a moment. "_Both_ of you," he added sharply to me when he and Draco made to leave but I stayed put. When I still didn't move, he sighed and said, "Miss Black-Lupin, if you don't come, I'll have do that thing we said." I felt Draco looking from one of us to the other, confused – he looked even more confused when I quickly made to follow.

We walked in complete silence. Even though his back was to me, I knew that Moody was watching me with his magical-eye closely and, even though my back was to him, I knew Draco was watching me in much the same manner. When we finally entered Moody's office, I had my hand in my pocket and wrapped tightly around my wand.

Moody must have waved his wand and made another chair appear next to the knocked-over one before we had entered. Once Draco and I had both entered, Moody shut and locked the door and I flipped the chair back up and sat down slowly. Draco sat down beside me, and Moody sat behind his desk.

"Mr. Malfoy, you must be wondering what was going on," Moody said after a moment.

"Obviously!" he exclaimed. "I just saw a _teacher_, who also happens to be an ex-_Auror_, throw the Cruciatus curse at my _girlfriend_! Of course I'm going to be just a _little _confused and concerned!" Well at least, despite our "fight" this morning, he was still concerned about me.

"Yes, well, your little_ girlfriend _and I have this..._deal_, shall we say – "

"I wouldn't call it a deal," I snapped, crossing my arms. "Because with a deal, _both_ parties have to be _equally_ _satisfied_ with the results! And, obviously, I'm _not _satisfied!" Draco was staring at us in confusion again, but I didn't care. And nor, it seemed, did Moody.

"Oh yeah? I thought you'd be pretty satisfied considering I let you live after you found out!"

"I think I would be much more satisfied if everybody I love gets to survive, not me!"

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Draco snapped, suddenly alerting Moody and I to his presence once more.

"Miss Abigail here..._figured out_ something about me that I could not have rumors about running over the school," Moody said maliciously, staring at me instead of Draco. I could feel Draco staring at me too, but I kept my gaze on Moody. "Took her a fair bit of persuading, but she promised she wouldn't tell anybody. I had to threaten a few people, however..."

"A _few_?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "I think there were more than a few."

"What did she figure out?" Draco asked suddenly. "I don't think any secret is big enough that you should _threaten _somebody!"

"Oh, this is pretty big," I said, nodding drastically. "You know, almost as big as hiding that he's the spy. You know, the spy that _everybody _knows is at Hogwarts, but that nobody knows who it is!" Almost immediately, the detectors, which had finally stopped going off, started going again. I knew a horrified expression was plastered on my face. "Whoops," I said quietly under Moody's glare and Draco's wide eyes.

"_You're _the spy?" Draco asked suddenly, staring at Moody, who was still staring angrily at me.

"Maybe I'll just have to do what I said I would if you told," he said through gritted teeth. "Who shall it be?" he asked thoughtfully. "How about one of your fathers? Or Riley or Sam? I would _love_ to make it Harry, but I've got to save him for the Dark Lord..." His eyes slowly trailed from me to Draco, and I knew what he meant instantly and found my eyes widening in shock and fear. "Or...Draco, perhaps? He is the one you told, afterall...one less person to try to keep quiet..."

I stared at his hand as he started to lift his wand slowly toward Draco, who was staring at it, looking frightened yet determined. I started shaking my head slowly.

"No, no, I didn't mean to!" I said quickly, still staring at the steady wand even though I knew Moody and Draco were both staring at me.

"Don't worry," Moody said quietly, "I won't kill him. On one condition." I looked up at him. "You tell me who you've told."

"I haven't told anybody! Your detectors must just have been sensing that _I _know and that I was nearby!"

"Then why aren't they going off now?" Moody snapped.

"In case you didn't realize," I said suddenly. "They _are_."

"Only because you just told Mr. Malfoy."

"How do _you _know that's why?"

Moody was silent for a moment before he lowered his wand slowly. "Fine," he snarled. "You win. You're lucky you're smart, or else I wouldn't have taken a second thought at killing either, or even _both_, of you." He paused and flicked his wand from one of us to the other, using it to point. "If either of you tell anybody, I won't hesitate this time to kill the other. And painfully."

My eyes met Draco's for the first time since I had seen him in the corridor, and I knew in that moment that we would both do _anything_ to make sure that the other was not harmed.

"Now get out of my office."

I don't know who was in the biggest hurry to get out of there; me or Draco. Either way, as soon as we were outside and the door had shut behind us, Draco grabbed my wrist and pulled me after him. I didn't know where we were going, even when he pulled me into the dungeons, but I didn't ask.

It wasn't until he pulled me up to a blank wall and said, "Parseltounge," quickly and when the wall split to reveal a narrow passageway that I realized he was taking me to the Slytherin Common Room. I was about to tell him I wasn't supposed to be here when he pulled me in, ignored the strange looks the students seated in the dark green and black leather sofas shot us, and continued to pull me down a hall and into a room on the left.

It must've been the fourth year boys' dormitory, because it looked exactly like the Gryffindor boys' dormitory except it was decorated in dark green instead of maroon. Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, and another weedy-looking kid I knew as Theodore Nott were there. Draco barked at them to leave before they could ask any questions, and they did so quietly and quickly. Nott glared at me as he left, though. The other three all looked bewildered, most likely because Draco and I had gotten into a fight earlier and now seemed to be fine.

When they were gone, Draco finally dropped my wrist, went to lock the door behind them, and then turned slowly toward me. I was staring at the floor and heard him quietly walk in my direction, but still didn't look up, even when he took my hands in his.

"Did he get you?" he asked softly. "Before...before you found me?" I finally looked up and my gaze met his as I shook my head slowly.

"No," I answered quietly. "Almost, but no."

"Is that what you've been hiding?" I nodded slowly. I heard him exhale sharply, and he shut his eyes. "Oh Merlin." He opened his eyes again, and they met mine. "I'm so sorry that I got mad at you for hiding something from me this morning. I should've listened...I should've let you explain..." I shook my head slowly.

"It's okay. Even if you would've asked me, I wouldn't have had any good explanation, and it's not like I could tell you." He didn't say anything for a long moment. Instead, he dropped one of my hands and pulled me lightly over to one of the beds on the other side of the room. He pulled the curtains back and moved to sit against the headboard, pulling me up next to him. Once we were seated, he put his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him so our hips were touching.

"How long have you known?" he finally asked softly. 

"Since Monday," I replied, shrugging one shoulder. "Not that long."

"Still, I can't believe you were able to keep such a huge thing quiet for so long," he said. "I would have to tell somebody. I mean that's huge!" I laid my head on his shoulder gently and sighed before saying quietly and slowly,

"Well...I didn't really keep it a complete secret." When Draco said nothing, I tilted my head up slightly to look at him and saw that he was staring at me, his eyebrows rose and his mouth slightly open. I sighed again before reaching into my pocket and pulling out the mirror.

"What has that got to do with anything?" he asked after a moment. I swallowed and then hesitated before answering.

"Watch," I answered quietly. "Just...don't say anything, and don't lean so you would be able to see yourself in the mirror, alright?"

"Okay..." he replied slowly. I held the mirror up, closed my eyes briefly, and then whispered into it,

"Sam." There was no answer. "Sam!" I said louder.

"Abbey?" Sam's face appeared in the mirror, replacing my own. Draco's eyes widened and he let out a sharp breath of shock. "What was that noise?" Sam asked suddenly, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Er, what noise?" I asked, deciding to play dumb. Sam shook his head slowly.

"Never mind," he said. "Anyways, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied. "I just wanted to...to apologize for – for my rude behavior towards you and Katie after dinner tonight," I said after pausing for a moment to come up with a reason for having called him randomly. I saw him narrow his eyes suspiciously, but he only muttered,

"It's alright."

"So that's all," I said. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." 

"Hey, where are you?" he asked suddenly before I could put my mirror away.

"My dormitory...why?"

"Well David and Sean were looking for you, so Addison went up to see if you were in your dormitory and you weren't," he answered. "And unless you slipped in somehow and weren't noticed by, like, anybody, you're _not _in your dormitory."

"Fine, I'm on my way back." I paused. "Hey, I gotta go, I think I hear somebody coming. See ya!" Sam rolled his eyes, but his face disappeared from the mirror. I stuffed it back into my pocket and, while I was doing so, Draco said,

"I still don't understand what that has to do with anything."

"Alright," I said slowly. "I'll start at the beginning." I paused before launching into the full story of what the Marauder's Map was, how I had seen "Bartemius Crouch" on it, how Harry and I had "fallen" into Dumbledore's Pensive, how I confronted Moody and had called Dad on the mirror, leaving it in my pocket so he could hear it all, and how I _had_, in fact, purposefully gotten a detention today so Dad could tell without him assuming that it was me.

"So when you told him that you hadn't told anybody, you were lying?" Draco asked.

"...Technically."

"That was really convincing," he said, his eyebrows rose. "Should I be worried, now that I know you're a good liar?"

"Very," I joked. He smiled and shook his head. After a pause, I looked up at him and said, "I've spoken up and told you everything. Now it's your turn."

"What do you mean?" 

"Blaise told me you're hiding something from me, too," I said quietly. "I told you what I was hiding, now you have to tell me."

"Blaise told you?" I nodded. "That bastard," Draco muttered. I rose my eyebrows, but he only rose his right back at me. "I never agreed to these standards."

"_Please_?" I whined, resting my head on his shoulder again but still looking up at him. He sighed and looked away.

"It's my father," he said quietly. "He...well, it's obvious that You-Know-Who is – "

"Voldemort," I corrected, but when I saw him visibly flinch at the name I said quickly, "Sorry." He shook his head.

"Don't be. Anyway, it's obvious that he's getting stronger. And, you know my father's a Death Eater right?" I nodded slowly. "...He's trying to convince me to join, you know, when I'm old enough. And...I – I don't want to." He paused. "But...I feel like he would disown me or something if I don't." I licked my lips and then bit my bottom lip for a moment before I answered.

"If you don't want to join, just _don't_," I replied quietly. "It's your life. You get to make your own decisions. Besides, he's your _father_. He might _threaten_ to, but I doubt he would really disown you just because you won't join. Besides, he's not even back yet. And I doubt you can actually become a Death Eater until you're like 17 or even older, so you still have quite some time to think about it."

Draco didn't say anything for a long time. We both merely sat there in silence, evolved in our own thoughts. I was busy worrying about who Dad had told, and he was probably thinking about what I had said.

"I love how your argument alone wouldn't help," he finally said quietly, "but you still managed to make me feel better just by being here." I didn't have time to reply before he pulled the hand he had wrapped around my waist out, put it under my chin, and pushed it up lightly so I was looking him right in the eyes before he kissed me.

Right as our lips touched, somebody banged on the door three times and Blaise's voice called,

"Draco, if you and Abbey don't stop making out and let us in already, we're going to barge in!"

Draco and I separated, keeping our faces close, and laughed.

"Oh hang on, will ya? I'll be right there!" Draco called back, still smiling. "You better get back before it gets too late," he added to me. "You need to get ahold of Professor Lupin, don't you?" I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I probably should." We climbed off the bed and headed over toward the door. Right before he opened it, Draco pulled me back into another, longer kiss. We only broke it up when somebody tried turning the knob on the door again. Draco rolled his eyes and I smiled as he unlocked the door and pulled it open.

"Happy now?" he asked Blaise, who was the only one standing behind it.

"Very. Now when you pass them, tell Crabbe and Goyle and Nott they can come up."

"Right. I'll be back in a bit," Draco said, taking my hand in his and leading me down the long hall back to the slowly-emptying Common Room, passing Blaise's message on as we passed Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott, and right down the passageway that led to the dungeons.

"Will you let me walk you back to your Common Room tonight?" he asked at the door. "It's not after curfew yet," he added quickly. I paused for dramatic effect before I whispered,

"I suppose I will."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	38. Chapter 38

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to Jessica682 for the review!**

**Sorry this took a bit longer than usual, I've been out of town for the past 5 days. I should be back to weekly updates next week, thought, so don't worry! **

Chapter 38

"Your birthday's coming up," I stated, trying desperately for a topic that would allow me to think of anything besides the fact that Moody was probably watching our every move through the walls with that crazy eye of his and that, if I slipped up, he would kill Draco with just a flick of his wand.

Actually, what was _really_ bothering me was that I couldn't stop picturing Draco dead. I could tell Draco was trying hard not to think of the same thing, only of _me_ instead.

"Oh really? I hadn't realized," Draco replied snidely. I raised my eyebrows at him, annoyed, but smiled nonetheless.

"Oh shush," I said. "I need to get you something." That was a lie. I had already gotten him something. It was locked away in my trunk. But I wanted him to think I hadn't gotten him anything yet. Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle had helped me come up with ideas – or, you know, _Blaise _had helped. Crabbe and Goyle just provided entertainment (and annoyance) for the two of us. "What do you want?"

"You." Well I should've seen _that_ coming.

"Oh, ha, ha," I answered dryly. "That's so cliché, and would've been a better line to use _before _we started dating, since you _have_ me now anyways."

"What I _meant_," Draco said irritably, rolling his eyes as we climbed more and more stairs, "was that I don't want anything as long as I have you."

"Enough pick up lines," I laughed, even though I thought that they were pretty sweet. "I honestly need some ideas! What do you want? _Something that you don't already have!_" I added sternly. Draco laughed lightly before he paused, thinking.

"Honestly?" he asked, sounding sincere and looking down at me. I nodded. He came to a stop at the top of the staircase we were climbing and turned toward me, taking both of my hands in his. "_Honestly_, I have everything I could _ever_ ask for." He leaned forward and kissed me softly. He moved in to deepen it, but I pulled back, smiling.

"That's sweet," I finally admitted, still smiling at him. "But you're still not helping me decide what to get you."

"Don't you get it? I don't want anything," he said quietly. "I'm being completely honest when I say _you_ were the only thing I wanted, and now that I have you, I don't want anything expect for things to stay this way." He paused. "Abbey, I..." He hesitated and looked down at our interlinked hands.

"Yeah?" I asked quietly when he didn't say anything more. He closed his eyes briefly. When he reopened them, he looked me straight in the eye and shook his head slowly, smiling slightly.

"Nothing," he said quietly. I wanted to know what he had been about to say, even though I had a hunch, as he dropped one of my hands and started back up the next flight of stairs.

"_What_?" I pressured as I caught up with him, still holding his hand. He shook his head again, but didn't say anything. "Come _on_, tell me!"

"Later, alright?" he said.

"Fine," I grumbled. He looked toward me, smirking at my tone of voice.

"Believe me when I say that when I _do_ tell you, you'll be glad I waited," he said. I sighed but didn't try to pressure him into telling me anymore. I suppose he'd tell me when he was ready, but it didn't make me any less curious...or maybe I was just _anxious_? I was almost one-hundred percent sure I knew what he had been about to say, and maybe I just _wanted _him to say it and that's why I was trying so hard to get him to.

"This way," I said when we reached the seventh floor, pulling him down the corridor toward the portrait of the Fat Lady. After a moment, I decided to continue with asking him about what he wanted for his birthday. "So, do you just want me to give you money or something?"

"Nah, I have money."

"I know, but everybody could always use more."

"_I_ couldn't." I sighed, annoyed.

"You're not helping me." He merely shrugged, smiling at me, and answered,

"You know, it always sucks that my birthday clashes with exams. If you could convince them to change that, then I'd be happy."

"I'll give it my best go, but no promises," I joked as I pulled up in front of the Fat Lady, who was, as usual, sleeping. I sighed, annoyed. "Great," I said sarcastically.

"What?" Draco asked, staring confusedly at the Fat Lady.

"She's sleeping," I explained. "It's not that I mind waking her up, but it takes _so_ long."

"Why does it matter that a portrait of some fat lady is sleeping?"

"That's how we get to our Common Room, like you guys in Slytherin have that wall in the dungeon you go through." Draco stared at the Fat Lady, looking slightly bemused.

"Is she nice, at least?"

"When she likes you." I replied. He looked down at me.

"Why do I not like the sound of that?"

"Because she hates me." Draco raised his eyebrows.

"I can't imagine why," he said seriously.

"I wake her up all the time," I explained, "when I'm out after hours." He rolled his eyes at me as I got fed up and yelled at the Fat Lady, who jerked awake.

"Oh, it's just _you _again," she mumbled.

"You've been drinking again, haven't you?" I asked, indignant. "With Violetta, right? Come on, we've _talked _about this!"

"Shut up and tell me the password," she groaned at me. I told it to her, and she swung open to reveal the portrait hole.

"Well, this is where I leave you," I said to Draco. He smiled down at me and nodded.

"Yeah, I got that." He bent down and captured my lips in a short kiss before I entered the Common Room and heard the portrait of the Fat Lady swing shut behind me.

Sam called to me from the Common Room, but I slipped past him and everybody else and up to my empty dormitory. I still hadn't spoken to Dad since I had been stuck in detention with Moody, and I needed to know if he had been able to tell somebody.

_Well, _obviously_ he had, _I thought, _or else those stupid detectors wouldn't have gone off. _

I was glad to find that the dormitory was empty, so I climbed into my bed, pulled the curtains shut around it, and then pulled the mirror out from under my pillow, where I had stored it when I had left for dinner that night. Had that really only been a few hours ago? It felt like ages ago.

"Dad."

"Abbey?" His face appeared, causing mine to disappear. "It's about time! I was starting to get worried. You promised me you'd call as soon as you got back."

"I just got back," I answered honestly.

"Really?" I saw him check his watch. "Why did your detention run so late?"

"It's a long story," I replied. He raised his eyebrows.

"We have time." I sighed.

"Alright, fine. But you have to tell me what you've been doing as soon as I'm done. Deal?"

"Deal."

And so, I started to tell him everything. Well, not _everything_. I told him everything from when I went to Moody's office, to when I ran out and found Draco, to when we left, and I told him I came straight to the Common Room after that. He seemed a little skeptical, but didn't say anything until I was completely finished.

"Sam told me you got into a row with Malfoy today at dinner." I sighed, annoyed.

"That rat," I muttered, before I quickly shook my head. "It was nothing, we fixed it now," I assured him.

"He told me Riley got into a row with Fred too." I felt my eyes widen.

"_What_?" I exclaimed, shocked. I had never seen them so much as _disagree _over anything. "Over what?"

"Well apparently Fred said something about him and George not coming back to Hogwarts next year and instead starting that joke shop they want to make, and she didn't really like the idea. She may not act like it, but she knows how valued a completed and well education can be. I mean, come on, what if their joke shop doesn't give them enough money –?"

"It will, believe me," I interrupted. "I've seen their stuff. But still, I can't believe they're thinking of not coming back next year! Even if it _is _Fred and George." Dad shrugged, but before he could say more, I said quickly, "You never told me what happened to you. Who you told, what happened, everything."

Dad sighed.

"Alright, fine." He paused. "I told Sirius first. At first, he thought I was joking, and was on the verge of calling you to make sure it wasn't a joke when it hit him that everything fit. And it _really _fit. He even said he remembered 'Barty' acting differently after his parents came to visit him in Azkaban."

I could just see it; Dad, pleading for Father to believe him, telling him he wasn't kidding, and Father shaking his head, not wanting to believe it.

"_Stop kidding around, I know you're joking now, there's no point in not admitting it," he would say. _

"_I'm not kidding, Sirius," Dad argued back. "Please believe me, I heard it all, and Abbey saw it –"_

"_Well why don't I just call Abbey to see if she'll admit it, too?" Father asked smugly._

"_She's in detention with the fake Moody," Dad pointed out. "Come on! Doesn't it all make sense? Doesn't it all fit? Think about it...please, I swear, I'm not kidding." Father paused for a long time before his eyes slowly widened as he realized that it _was_ true._

"_Oh my God," he said quietly. "It _does _all fit. How could we not see it before...How could I not believe you...I'm so sorry Remus, I should've believed you, I know you don't kid about things like this..."_

Yeah, even if that's not exactly how it happened, I could still see it.

"We decided we had to tell Dumbledore. That was probably why the Dark Detectors went off a second time. Because we told Dumbledore. We Flooed him, and slowly spilled it all out to him."

"Did he believe you?"

"Of course," Father replied, suddenly taking Dad's place in the mirror. He must have pulled his own mirror out now so he could join our conversation. "Dumbledore's a trusting man, how could he not?"

"So? Did he set out to arrest 'Moody' right away?" I asked, my anticipation rising. _Of course he did, how could he not_? I asked myself. But something felt off...Father and Dad didn't seem happy, as they should be if they thwarted the man who threatened their daughter and Harry. As a matter of fact, if anything, their expressions were morbid.

"No," Dad answered, his face appearing instead of Father's in the mirror. "He said that there wasn't enough evidence, not enough to convince the Minister, or many others in the Ministry, that their most trusted, although maybe a little crazy, ex-Auror is really a Death Eater in disguise."

"But both of us know it!" I exclaimed. "And now you do too, Father!"

"I know, but you're a thirteen year old," Father explained. "And, I hate to say it, but people are biased toward Remus because of his, erm, _condition_. And _me_? Many people still think that I'm guilty, and the Minister is on his way to believing it too. I know it. They won't believe us."

"What about Dumbledore?"

"He says they don't trust him as much anymore because they know he trusts too many people," Dad answered.

"So he's just going to _let _him continue to plan to kill Harry?" I asked, bewildered.

"He said he's going to keep an eye out, but unless more compelling evidence is presented, he can't do much."

"But Draco knows now too! Moody admitted it to his face!" I pointed out, looking for any way that could possibly get the Ministry to believe us.

"He's only fourteen –"

"He'll be fifteen in little over a week," I corrected, "And besides, he's a _Malfoy_."

"Are you saying you want him to corrupt the Ministry even more by paying them to go our way just so they'll _believe _us?" Father asked.

"Not so they'll believe us," I corrected, taken aback that they would think that lowly of me. "It's for _Harry_. If we don't do anything, and just let this go on, then there's a very good chance that Crouch could send him to Voldemort. Do you want that?" I asked, indignant.

"Obviously we don't want that, Cat," Father said, shaking his head. "But right now, we're more worried about getting him through the upcoming task."

"But don't you think that's when he's going to try to send him to Voldemort?"

"Dumbledore thought it was more likely to happen sometime when we _wouldn't _expect it, like sometime during the summer or something," Dad disagreed. I sighed. I still thought it was likely to happen during the third task, but whatever. Dumbledore knew better than me, I suppose. Still…

"Alright, whatever," I muttered. "Look, I'm going to get going. It's getting late." _Not_. "And I'm tired." _Not_. "I've had a long day." _Well_, _that_ _much_ _is_ _true_. I wanted to add that I still had homework to do, which I did, but I had all weekend to do it, so they wouldn't believe that.

"Okay," Father said, sounding skeptical. "We'll see you soon, alright? Remus and I are coming in for the third task, but don't tell Harry or Sam, they're not supposed to know. It's going to be a surprise." I shrugged.

"Fine," I muttered. "I can keep a secret."

"You be good, alright? No more detentions," Dad said sternly.

"You gave me permission to get that one!" I exclaimed.

"True, but you don't have my permission to get anymore." I huffed.

"Fine," I said again. "I'll try not to. No promises though."

"Right," Father laughed, shaking his head. "Well, see you soon, Cat."

"Goodnight." I stuffed the mirror back under my pillow just as the door opened and I heard two sets of feet come in.

"Hey Abbey? Are you in there?" Addison's voice called.

"Yeah, I'm right here," I said back.

"Sam's downstairs looking for you," Adelaide replied.

"Tell him I said to bugger off. I'm going to bed." Not. I just wanted to sit in my bed and, for the first time in a long time, be alone with just my thoughts for company for a bit. It wasn't anything personal; I just wanted Addison and Adelaide to leave so I could think without them trying to make conversation and figure out whey I was upset.

I heard one of them whisper something to the other that sounded suspiciously like, "We should just leave her be, she sounds upset," before they left, quietly shutting the doors behind them.

After a few moments, I realized that maybe being alone wasn't such a good idea.

Why?

Because, with nothing else to distract me, all I kept seeing was Draco and Harry's dead bodies.

And that thought scared the _shit_ out of me.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	39. Chapter 39

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to Jessica682 for the review!**

**This chapter is a bit short, and, honestly, not my best work. Sorry about that! But I wanted to cut it there and couldn't figure out how to make it much better and decided, hey, at least it's a fast update!**

Chapter 39

"Guess who?"

"Well, I don't know….It couldn't be Abbey, could it?"

"Oh stop, you ruined the moment." I laughed. "Happy Birthday."

"How'd you know?"

"Oh stop mocking me," I laughed, sitting down between him and Blaise.

Ever since the night Dad had told Father and Dumbledore about Moody and Moody had threatened Draco and I, I had had trouble sleeping.

Why?

Nightmares had crawled through my dreams, mostly of Moody sending some green jet of light that I imagined was the Killing Curse at Draco and/or Harry and then them falling, lifeless, to the ground. Slowly, other people I loved, or even just cared for, started being killed too, like Sam, Riley, Father, and Dad. The night before, it had been Draco and the Weasley twins who had been murdered in front of me.

And, even though he wouldn't admit it, I could tell Draco was having nightmares too.

How could I tell?

Never before had I seen him look – and act – so sleep deprived, and, when I asked Blaise about it, he told me he had been hearing him thrash and grumble in his sleep for the past week or so, and that once he could've sworn he heard him say my name. Blaise thought he was having some, erm, rather _inappropriate_ dreams, but I thought – and kinda _hoped _– that I knew the _real_ reason.

But I wasn't going to bring it up. Not ever, _especially_ not on his birthday.

"I got you a gift," I said quietly so only he could hear. He rose his eyebrows at me.

"I thought I told you I didn't want anything." I shrugged.

"Doesn't mean I can't get you something. In case you haven't realized, we've been dating for nearly six months now, and, as your girlfriend, it's my obligation to get you a gift." I smiled cheekily at him. He sighed – I had spun what he had said to me on my birthday around to him.

He laughed, shaking his head, and shoved my shoulder lightly and jokingly.

"Abuse," I complained lightheartedly. He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I want to do it the same way you did. In private, that is. So how about, tonight, nine o'clock, same room?"

"Sounds good to me."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Hello gorgeous."

Draco had beat me to the room again. As soon as I had shut the door behind me, he had pulled me into his arms and kissed me gently before uttering his preceding line.

"Hiya sweetie," I replied sweetly. He looked offended.

"Are you telling me I'm not good-looking?" he asked jokingly.

"Course not," I said indignantly. "Handsome," I added, smiling at him as he laughed.

"At least you'll finally admit it." I rolled my eyes, slipping out of his arms and pulling him over to the wall and sliding down it into a sitting position. He slid down next to me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

I slid the small box I had been holding across the ground to him. He sighed, staring at it, before he pulled it toward him. He pulled the silver bow off and, after a moment of contemplation, stuck it on the top of my head. I laughed and moved it slightly so that it would be less likely to slip off.

"Oh Merlin, are you going to be OCD like me and refuse to rip the paper?" I asked as he slowly pulled the wrappings off.

"No," he replied, slipping the box out of the completely un-ripped paper. "I'm not ripping it because _you're_ so OCD about it." I shook my head, laughing quietly.

"I should tell you that I'm not all fancy like you and I didn't wrap each and every thing like you did."

"Good," he replied, prying open the box. "I don't want to have to unwrap more than one thing. Besides, how is there more than one thing in this box? It's awful small for too many things."

"Well maybe the things in it are very small."

He pulled the first and smallest box out first and slid it open. Inside there was a thick, folded piece of poster paper, which he pulled out and unfolded.

"Holey shit, Abbey where'd you get this?" I shrugged mysteriously.

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out."

It was a poster of the Falmouth Falcons, Draco's favorite Quidditch team, that had actually been signed by the players. Father had gotten it from somebody at work, who had gotten it for their son but decided they didn't want it. He brought it home one day during the summer and asked us if we wanted it, but, since none of us are fans of them, we didn't, so he stored it away in case one of us did.

"These are really rare, you know. They don't like to sign things," he said in wonder, staring at the poster. "Come on, how did you get it?" I merely shrugged. "Well, then at least tell me how you folded it and it doesn't have marks in it?"

"A simple Charm," I said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"This must've cost you a fortune."

"Maybe. Now come on, open the rest." He still stared at the poster in wonderment as I took it from him and folded it back up, putting it gently into the box. He pulled out the second box and flipped the lid open.

"Did you steal this from Moody?"

I couldn't help but laugh.

"No, he has a _normal _Sneakoscope. This is a pocket one," I replied. "Although I _did _steal the idea from him. I thought, you know, with all that's going on, it could be useful." I had actually gotten this for free, too, because I bought a nice Sneakoscope for Sean for Christmas and, because of a sale they had going on, had gotten a pocket one for free. "Okay, open the last one. It's the best."

"Better than that poster? I doubt it." But he put the Sneakoscope away and pulled out the last, largest box and flipped the lid open.

Inside was a beautiful, brand-new, custom-made Golden Snitch that I had had "D.M." engraved into. I can tell you, I definitely didn't get this for free. But I had gotten a deal on it.

"I've never seen an engraved Snitch before," Draco whispered, reaching out to take it out. But he suddenly stopped just before his fingers touched it and pulled them back. "You take it out," he said, looking up at me. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Why?"

"Just do it, alright?"

"Not until you tell me why." He sighed.

"Alright," he said quietly. "Snitches have flesh-memories." I stared at him blankly. "They remember the touch of the very first person to touch them. Even the maker has to wear gloves when handling them before release. You can put Charms and stuff on them so, when the first person who ever touched it does again, it will open or writing will appear on it or something."

"So why do you want _me _to touch it first? It's _your _Snitch," I pointed out. He shrugged.

"It just feels…right." I stared at the Snitch. "Please?" he asked quietly.

"Fine," I muttered, shifting so I could reach out to it and slowly picked it up.

There was a weird tingling sensation that ran up my arm before disappearing completely. I stared at the Snitch before setting it into Draco's open hand.

"Happy?"

"Very." He set the Snitch back into it's box and closed the lid before wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Thanks babe," he whispered into my ear before kissing my cheek lightly. "That's honestly the best gift ever." I smiled.

"Well it better be, it was expensive!" He frowned.

"What?"

"Kidding," I laughed. "I actually got two of those things for free."

"Which two?"

"I'm not telling," I said, smiling playfully. He shook his head before leaning forward and kissing me delicately on the lips.

"You're great, you know that?" he whispered. I smiled.

"Yeah, I know." He rolled his eyes. "You're pretty great yourself, too, you know."

"Course I am." He smirked at me before kissing me again. "We shouldn't stay out too late tonight since we have exams tomorrow." I groaned.

"Exams _suck_."

"Obviously." We sat in silence for several minutes before Draco broke it, and quite abruptly.

"You haven't been getting any sleep since…since the night Moody threatened us, have you?" I looked up at him suddenly, but before I could reply, he continued. "I can tell. You look – and act – tired every day. You can tell me, you know." I sighed and paused.

"No, I haven't," I replied, looking toward the opposite wall. 

"Nightmares?" he asked softly. I nodded slowly. After a moment, he said, "Me too. Every night. Every time I close my eyes." I looked up at him to find that he, too, was staring in the direction of the other wall with a distant look in his eyes. "They're horrible. I know yours must be, too. They keep me up all night because if I close my eyes, I see them."

"Can we talk about something else?" I whispered. He looked down at me.

"Are you scared?" I looked up at him, confused. "For the Third Task," he explained. "I know that's when you think it's going to happen. I'm not stupid, I think it is too." I bit my bottom lip for a brief moment before nodding.

"I'm terrified," I replied softly. "Harry's like my brother. I don't want to see him hurt, let alone dead."

"Who did your fathers tell? I take it they never did anything."

"They told Dumbledore. But he said the Ministry probably wouldn't believe us, there's not enough people that know."

"So he's going to do nothing?"

"Basically," I answered. "It's stupid and annoying. I just want to yell at him, but, let's get real; he's a professor, and the Headmaster at that. It would be a horrible idea to yell at him." Draco slid his arm from around my shoulders to where hw could rub my lower back in soothing circles.

"I know," he whispered. "I know. It sucks. But there's not a whole lot we can do about it. If we tell anybody…" He didn't have to finish his sentence for me to get the idea.

"Yeah, I know," I replied. "I guess the best thing to do is to try to warn Harry somehow. But that'll probably set off the detectors, so I can't do that." I sighed. "Either way, I'm likely to loose somebody I care deeply about," I muttered.

"That's not going to happen," Draco said soothingly. "Moody…Crouch…whatever you wanna call him, he was just bluffing. He's not really going to hurt one of us, and Harry isn't really going to be sent to You-Know-Who, alright?"

"How can you be sure?" 

"Well, you can't," he said. "But you have to trust, alright? Do you believe in fate?" I shrugged.

"I suppose."

"Alright, then you believe that everything happens for a reason," he continued. "And that everything will turn out alright in the end."

"But what if it doesn't?" He shrugged, still rubbing my back.

"Then you just haven't reached the end yet." I looked up at him and smiled.

"You know, surprisingly, that helped," I said, smiling up at him. "It seems cheesy, but it's true." Draco smiled back at me.

"That's how I feel when you're around, only you don't have to say anything. Your presence does it all."

"You're too sweet," I whispered, kissing him gently before making to stand up. "Now, you were right about the exams thing. I don't want to be even _more _sleep-deprived tomorrow." We both stood up and I helped him gather his things. "Now today, I get to walk _you _to your Common Room."

"Oh no, no," he replied. "No, no, no. I'm the man in this relationship; _I _have to be the chivalrous one."

"Yes, but it's your birthday, so _I _get to be chivalrous today."

"Nope. I refuse."

"Well –"

"No," he said forcefully. "Come on, please?" I sighed and gave in.

"Alright."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The rest of the month went by slowly. Before I knew it, exams were over, and it was July 24th, the day of the Third Task. I was leaving the Great Hall with Draco after breakfast when Sam grabbed my wrist and told me to come with him.

"Why?" I asked, confused, as Draco came to a stop as well.

"Trust me, alright?" Sam replied. "Come on." I looked to Draco, shrugged, and took off after Sam, who had started walking down the Great Hall toward Riley. "Hey, Riley, come with us!"

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"Just trust me, alright? Come on, Harry, you _have _to come since you're a champion." Harry and Riley stood up and, obviously confused, followed after me toward the chamber off the Hall.

"Sam, what's going on?" Riley asked as he pulled the door open and held it that way for Riley, Harry and I to enter.

I stopped when I realized who was on the other side of the door. I had forgotten they had said they were coming.

"Mrs. Weasley! Bill! Dad! Father!"

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	40. Chapter 40

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to Jessica682 and HPfan4ever for the review!**

**HPfan4ever – Aww! That's sweet! Thanks so much! I'm glad you like it! **

_**I've reached 40 chapters!**_** In light of this event, I've decided that, if I get 5 reviews for this chapter, I'll tell you a hint about what will happen later. Like how, before DH came out, JKR said that "three main characters would die." Something like that. **

**Alright, on to the Third Task! I will be switching POVs a bit here, I hope that's alright!**

Chapter 40

"_Mrs. Weasley! Bill! Dad! Father!"_

"Hey kiddo!" Bill said, ruffling my hair like he always did when I saw him. Being 12 years older than me, he was the oldest Weasley and was already in Hogwarts when I was born, so I got along better with him (and Charlie) than I did with the rest of the Weasleys.

"Hey, I didn't know you guys were coming too," I said to him and Mrs. Weasley.

"It was a surprise," Mrs. Weasley replied, beaming at Harry and pulling him into a hug. "We came to watch Harry and Sam."

"You all right?" Bill asked Harry, shaking his head, as Riley and Sam started talking to Dad and Father. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off." I felt myself turning slightly pink and turned away. "He said you were incredible against the Horntail."

"I bet Abbey's disappointed that he couldn't make it," Sam said, his voice tinkling. _Damn it_, I thought. _Stupid brothers!_ I turned to him, annoyed, as Riley, Bill, Dad, and Mrs. Weasley laughed.

"And _this _is why I don't talk to you in public!" I said, irritated.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, confused.

"I don't understand either," Father agreed.

"From the ages of two till seven Abbey was _in love_ with Charlie," Riley said, laughing. I felt my face heating up even more and turned away from the group of amused people to face Fleur and her family. I couldn't help but notice Fleur eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. When she noticed me watching her, she looked away. I have to say, I could see something happening between them – they would be rather cute together.

"Anyway, it's great being back here," Bill said, seeming to take some pity on me. Once my face had cooled down I turned back to face them. "I haven't seen this place in five years. Is that picture of that mad night still around? Sir Cadogan?"

"Ugh, yes," Sam replied, groaning. "We had some interesting moments with him last year."

"And the Fat Lady?"

"She was here in my time," Mrs. Weasley said. "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning –"

"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" Bill asked, staring at his mother in amazement.

I didn't get to hear her answer, however, because McGonagall passed and stopped when she spotted Riley and I.

"Were you two told to come in here?" she asked. I shrugged.

"Sam told us to – I thought we were supposed to," Riley replied.

"Don't you have exams that are going on right now?" McGonagall pointed out. Riley and I looked at each other, shocked that we had forgotten about those, and nodded slowly. "Well then you guys better be off. You'll have time to visit your family after exams."

The two of us quickly rushed from the room so as not to be caught in her fury.

"She didn't seem too pissed, I bet we could've convinced her to let us stay," Riley muttered as we headed up the stairs. "I don't want to go to History of Magic."

"She's probably trying to impress the other families," I said. "But still, getting on her bad side isn't a good idea." Riley laughed as we finished climbing another staircase. "Well, I got to go. I have Charms. At least it's the last one of the year, at least for me. I guess I'll see you later, then."

"See ya."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I felt horrible about it, but I tried to avoid Draco most of the day. During lunch, I saw Father watching him closely from across the hall. After a confused glance from Draco, at which I shook my head sternly, I think he understood and tried to act normally.

It worked – at least, it worked for lunch.

Draco and I both had a free period after lunch, however, and usually spent it together. We figured if we stayed in a far corner of the library, we wouldn't be caught.

"Remind me again why you don't think now would just be a good time to introduce us?" he asked after a while.

"Would you want _me _to meet _your _parents under these circumstances?" I asked. He frowned.

"Ok, you're right," he said. "Now is probably not the best time. Especially since they're probably really nervous about their oldest child and Potter – is he their Godson?" I nodded. "Okay, well their child and their Godson fighting in a tournament that could possibly get them killed probably makes them really upset."

I frowned. _Oh shit – Harry and/or Sam could die in this_, I thought. How had that thought not occurred to me yet? I guess I had been too busy worrying about the fact that Harry could be killed by Voldemort and that Draco could be killed by Moody to actually think about it.

When I looked up and saw Draco's horrified expression, I knew that my sudden realization showed on my face.

"Oh Merlin," I said quietly. "One of them could die. What if they do?"

"They're not going to," Draco said, moving over to sit next to me and taking my hands in his. "They have extra precautions set up to prevent exactly that from happening, alright? Sam and Harry are both well prepared and they're obviously both great wizards or the Goblet of Fire wouldn't have picked them." He squeezed my hands gently. "It's going to be okay, they both made it through the other two tasks, didn't they?"

Just so that I wouldn't freak him out anymore, as he was obviously freaked at making me so upset, I took several deep breaths and nodded slowly.

"Yeah, you – you're right," I replied. "Nothing's going to happen to them, they're tough."

"See?" he said, squeezing my hand soothingly again. "It's going to be alright."

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of class and the beginning of the evening feast. We gathered the few things we had brought with us and headed out of the nearly empty library hand-in-hand. I didn't even think about the fact that Dad and Father were here until we passed a corridor and I heard a stern voice say,

"Abbey."

I stopped in my tracks and felt my blood run cold. _I'm in trouble now_, I thought, _Father doesn't like the Malfoys. I just hope he'll stay calm and not go all "Stay away from my daughter!" on Draco._

I turned around and found Dad and Father standing at the end of a corridor. Dad was watching Father closely – Dad knew Draco already and would be much more accepting than Father would be, I could already tell. I could also tell he had spoken to Father about being civil but that, as of now, it seemed that Father hadn't really listened to him – he was staring at Draco through narrowed eyes. I gripped Draco's hand tighter in mine.

"Hi Dad, Father, I didn't see you there." I paused when nobody said anything. "Where's Sam?"

"He went with Harry to show Bill and Molly around," Father answered, not taking his eyes off of Draco, who took a tiny step backward out of intimidation. I still refused to let go of his hand, though, so he couldn't go too far. "Why don't you introduce us to your…_friend_?" I swallowed and paused.

"Father, Dad, this is Draco, my boyfriend," I said slowly. "Draco…this is my Father, Sirius Black, and you remember Professor Lupin." Draco held out his hand politely to Father, who took it and shook it briefly.

"Nice to meet you, sir," Draco said. He nodded civilly to Father, who smiled back. "Good to see you again, Professor."

"We were just headed back to the Great Hall," I said, starting to walk away, but I had no such luck.

"So were we," Father said. "Why don't we join you?"

"That'd be just…swell," I said in a dry and sarcastic voice as Father started to lead the way toward the Great Hall. When his back was turned to us, Dad whispered to Draco and I,

"I am _so_ sorry about him. But you know how he can be…Plus, he thinks that since he just got his kids back, he needs to be over-protective of them. Just don't say anything to tick him off, alright?"

We walked in complete and awkward silence to the Great Hall. When we entered the hall, I started to go with Draco toward the Slytherin table when Father called after me,

"Where're you going?" I let go of Draco's hand and told him to go ahead as I turned back.

"Well, I was _going _to go sit with Draco."

"Don't you want to sit with your family?"

"Well, I get to sit with you all summer. This will probably be one of the last times I'll get to see him for a few months." Father narrowed his eyes.

"Fine, but just tell him that I've got my eyes on him, alright?"

"Whatever," I muttered, though I had no intention of telling Draco that.

The feast went by quickly – during which I could see Dad telling Father off for his inhospitable behavior – and before I knew it, Sam and Harry were leaving the Hall, and then so were we. Draco said that, despite Dad's hostility, he wanted to sit by me and, since I was going to sit with Riley, Dad, Father, Katie, Hermione, and all the Weasleys, he was going to as well.

Between the twelve of us – and I do mean twelve – found enough seats about halfway up in the middle of the stadium. Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle sat directly behind Draco and I and Troy, David, and Sean sat directly in front of us. Right as Bagman started introducing people, I got annoyed with how closely we had to sit and how much room there was in front of us that I moved up to sit beside David, and Draco moved down beside me.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin!" Bagman's voice roared over the crowd.

"Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr. Samson Black-Lupin and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!"

I yelled and Fred and George wolf whistled from directly behind me. Everybody else cheered and applauded.

"In second place, with eighty points – Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!" There was more light applause for her. Sam caught my eyes and waved to me.

"So…on my whistle, Harry and Samson!" Bagman called. "Three – two – one!"

And so the games began.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**(A/N: Did that last line sound like something from the Hunger Games to anybody else? Anyway, now we're off! This is **_**Sam's**_** POV…for a while, at least!)**

Merlin, now is one of those times I wondered why I had signed up for this. An odd feeling of doom and foreboding fell over me as Harry and I walked down the long path in complete silence. It was dark, both physically and mentally, and we both lit our wands.

After about fifty yards, we reached a fork.

"I guess this is it, then," I said, smiling slightly at him. "Next time I see you, you'll be a thousand galleons richer!"

"Yeah, right," he said sarcastically. "It won't be me, believe me."

"Well, it's not going to be Fleur or Krum," I said, "so it's either you or me. I'd bet money on you, but whatever."

"See ya," Harry muttered. He took the left fork, I took the right.

I heard another whistle and knew that Krum had now entered the maze. I decided to speed up – if Krum or Fleur won, how stupid would I feel?

I turned left up ahead and found my path blocked by one of Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts. It was at least ten feet long, the end of it that shot out fire was pointed toward me, and its stinger was held over its back.

As soon as it realized that I was there, it shot some fire out at me, but I pushed myself up against the wall just in time to avoid it. It again shot more fire at me, propelling itself backward a bit, and I had to shoot a jet of water at it to stop the fire from hitting me. The fire and water extinguished each other.

Once it stopped shooting fire, it charged at me, but I yelled, "_Impedimenta_!" as it came at me. The curse bounced right off of its shell and flew into the sky, and it continued to charge at me. It ran right into my legs, causing me to fall backwards.

Luckily, its stinger didn't hit me, and, as it backed up to charge again, I saw that its underbelly was softer, and I yelled, "_Impedimenta_!" again and it froze just inches in front of me. I stood up and ran in the other direction as fast as I could to get away from it and suddenly found myself facing Harry.

"Damn Blast-Ended Skrewts!" I hissed angrily. "Careful with those things, they're huge."

Harry stared at me as I continued on. I used the "Point Me" spell and found out that I was straying way too far west, so I took the next left. I found myself in a dead end, so I turned around and ended up taking the next left, which was an empty pathway that went on in the distance.

I figured that Fleur must've entered already and that I just missed the whistle because I was fighting the stupid Skrewts.

I turned at another fork in the road and found –

"Katie?" I asked, moving a few steps closer.

Katie was sitting against the hedges, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms around them. She didn't seem to notice me, but, when I looked closer, I saw that tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Katie?" I asked again.

"No, no, please, not anymore, please –" she begged, but it seemed some invisible force hit her and she screamed in pain, her limbs flailing.

"Katie!" I screamed, lurching forward to help her. Then I realized that something wasn't right – Katie was up in the stands, safe and sound with everybody else. Which meant –?

And it hit me. I rose my wand, still shaken slightly, and yelled,

"_Riddiculus_!"

Katie turned into Abbey. She wasn't screaming, but she was lying on the ground in the middle of the path, breathing deeply. After a moment, she sat up quickly and started backing up, looking at something in front of me that I couldn't see. Blood trickled down her face, her leg stuck out at an odd angle, and her face was full of terror.

"Stop – please –!" But she cut her own sentence off with a scream.

"_Riddiculus_!" I yelled again. All she did was turn into a screaming Riley. I steadied my hand and screamed, "_RIDDICULUS_!"

Riley vanished with a "_Pop_!" into smoke and I let out a sigh.

I continued on, still shaken by what I had seen, and had only gotten a few paces ahead of where the Boggart had been when I heard a scream that shattered the silence.

Was it possible somebody else had found a Boggart that was like mine? Sure, but it sounded an awful lot like –

"Fleur?" I heard Harry call from someplace not to far away. But after that, it was completely silent, and I decided to play hero like Harry probably was going to and ran ahead to find Fleur.

I was surprised to find…nothing. Honestly. Either Fleur had gotten herself out of trouble, or was in so much of a mess that she couldn't reach her wand, because no red sparks had been sent up. Was she alright?

A few moments later, a curse that I didn't recognize flew right by me, and I turned around to see Krum sprinting at me with his wand held up. Another jet of light missed me by inches, and I started sprinting in the opposite direction.

"What the bloody fuck are you doing?" I yelled at him.

"_Crucio_!"

I was so shocked that I didn't have any time to duck or block it or move in any way. Instead, the curse hit me full on in the chest, knocking me backward to the ground.

Excruciating pain tore through my body. I could feel myself jerking and twitching on the ground, and all I could hear was my yells filling the air. It was so damn painful that I thought I might die like this.

Was this what Boggart-Katie, Abbey, and Riley had been so terrified of? If so, I didn't blame them.

Finally, the pain stopped, and I found myself panting on the ground, unable to move. Suddenly, Harry's voice broke the silence, and I opened my eyes to see him standing over me.

"Are you alright?" he asked, grabbing my arm and helping me quite roughly to my feet. I could feel myself shaking, but I didn't even care.

"Yeah," I panted. "I don't understand…I was minding my own business…was suddenly almost hit by a curse…turned around to find him…chasing me down the hill." I paused, catching my breath. "I can't believe it…I thought he was alright."

"Yeah…me too…did you hear Fleur earlier?"

"Yeah, do you think Krum got her too?"

"I don't know…do you think we should send up red sparks? If we leave him here, he'll probably be eaten by a Skrewt," Harry pointed out.

"He deserves it," I snarled, but I sent up red sparks nonetheless. "Well, I suppose we better go on." We split in the same directions we had been going.

As I walked away, I realized that I would much rather stay with Harry than leave. What if Krum somehow got back up and got him? Or me? If we stayed together, it'd be easier to overcome him. And I'd let him take the cup…I just wanted out of here, but if I gave up now, I'd probably be considered a pansy for the rest of my life. I have more pride than that….

I passed a few more creatures that I recognized and easily got rid of, like a banshee, some pixies, a newt, and a salamander.

And then I saw it. Lighting the path up ahead of me. The Triwizard Cup.

I was caught up in the moment. I had said earlier that I didn't even care that much, but in that moment, I _did_. So I dashed forward and sprinted after it, unaware of anything around me, only watching the cup.

Until…

"Sam! On your left!"

Harry had come to my aid, yet again. I turned my head to the left just in time to see some immense creature flying at me just in time to dive to the ground to avoid smashing into it. My wand flew up ahead of me just as I realized what it was.

An acromantula.

"Fuck," I muttered as it came closer to me.

"_Stupefy!_" Harry yelled. I knew that wouldn't be strong enough – all it did was caused the thing to run at Harry instead. While it did so, I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my wand.

When I spun around, Harry had been lifted into the air by the spider and was struggling madly. I saw it get his leg with its pinchers and knew it was broken.

"_Stupefy!_" I yelled, but I knew it wouldn't work. What was strong enough to use against a giant spider? Somehow, Harry got it to release him, but he fell onto his already injured leg. I winced and, at the same time as Harry, yelled, "_Stupefy!_" again.

The spider kneeled over and fell onto a nearby hedge. I fell backwards, coughed a few times, and called,

"Harry! Are you alright? Did it land on you?"

"No," Harry called back. I saw him a few feet away, but was staring at the Cup. "Well, go on. Take it, you're there." I looked back at him and shook my head.

"No, you've saved my life twice in here. You deserve it more than me."

"Oh, stop being noble and take the damn thing," Harry cursed. "Just take it, and then we can get out of here."

"You know I'm not going to, right?" I pointed out. "You know me better than that. Either you take it, or we wait for Fleur or Krum to come take it." Harry sighed, annoyed and leaning onto the wall to keep his twisted ankle from hurting him too much.

"Both of us," he said suddenly. I stared at him in disbelief. "It's still a Hogwarts victory. We can tie for it."

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah, I mean, we've been on the same team nearly the entire time anyway. We've helped each other a lot through this. It's only right we finish it together." I soon found myself grinning.

"You're too brilliant for your own good, Potter," I said, moving forward to help him. I put my arm around his waist and helped him limp forward. "Ready? On three. One – two – three!"

We both grabbed one of the handles and to my surprise I felt a jerk behind my naval and found my feet lifted off of the ground. I knew this sensation – the Cup was a Portkey. After a moment, my feet slammed into the ground and I fell onto my arse, Harry by my side.

"Where are we?" Harry asked. I shrugged, getting to my feet, and helped him to his feet as well. We both looked around.

We definitely weren't at Hogwarts anymore. We had obviously traveled miles, maybe even hundreds of miles. We stood in a deserted and dark graveyard.

"Did anybody tell you the Cup was a Portkey?" I asked. Harry shook his head.

"Is this supposed to be part of the task?" he asked. I shrugged.

"No idea. Wands out, do you reckon?" Harry nodded, and we pulled our wands out. I was standing beside a huge gravestone when Harry suddenly said,

"Someone's coming."

Squinting, I looked through the darkness at the coming figure. Whoever it was, they were short, and were weaving their way towards us through the gravestones. They were obviously carrying something, and whatever it was looked like a baby. As they neared, I realized that the person looked familiar somehow.

Harry and I shared a confused glance and lowered our wands slightly. They stopped about six feet from us, and, for a second, merely stared at us. Then, without any warning, Harry let out a yelp, his wand slid from his fingers, his hands reached for his head, and he fell to the ground.

"Harry –?" I started, but a high, cold voice cut me off.

"Kill the spare."

I looked up and suddenly recognized the person.

"Wormtail –!" I started, but I was cut off.

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

The last thing I saw was a sharp blast of green light headed straight towards me.

**A/N: Please don't stop reading because Sam died, even if you didn't want him to! I had a point to that, I promise! Just read on, it gets better, I swear!  
**

**At least there was a nice, LONG chapter for ya!  
**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	41. Chapter 41

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to .uSxX, ann, Jessica682, and HPfan4ever for the reviews! **

**Thanks for sticking with me even though one of many people's favorite characters just died! I think something that happens in this chapter will make you much happier. **_**Trust**_** me.**

**No, I didn't make a huge typo in the middle of this. And yes, I **_**know **_**that his mother should've came first, but I like his father coming first better…**

**Alright, this is Harry's POV.**

Chapter 41

_No, no, no, no._

The pain in my forehead was so unbearable that my eyes were squished tightly shut. But when I heard the fateful words screamed into the night, I opened them just enough to see what had happened, afraid of what I might see.

_No…Sam can't be…he can't be dead_.

He must've attempted to dive behind the nearby large headstone and out of the way at the last minute, but didn't make it. The curse must've hit him when he was falling. All I could see from where I kneeled were his feet sticking out from behind the headstone.

_No…no…NO!_

Sam's like my brother. The thought of him dead haunted me.

But I didn't get to be too distracted because before real grief could replace the numb disbelief that filled me, the short man that Sam had identified as Wormtail pulled me to my feet. He dragged me over to the headstone blocking Sam and slammed my back against it. I just saw the name on it read TOM RIDDLE before I was spun around.

As the man started to bind me to the headstone from ankles to neck, I started struggling. Annoyed, the man hit me – with a hand missing a finger.

Sam was right – it _was _Wormtail.

"You!" I gasped. Wormtail ignored me, though, checked the tightness of the cords, and then shoved some black material into my mouth. I tried to cough it out, but didn't succeed. Wormtail disappeared behind the headstone for some time. I could see the Triwizard Cup glinting in the distance and my wand close to Sam's feet. The baby thing Wormtail had been holding seemed to be moving close to my feet…I didn't want to know what was inside the bundle…

How had everything gone so horribly wrong? One second, Sam was grinning, saying that we were on the same team…next, he was lying on the ground dead because of _my _suggestion.

Everything else went in a blur…I saw Wormtail bring a giant cauldron in front of me…a huge snake circled around and around the bundle…the liquid in the cauldron began to send off sparks…the high, cold voice spoke again, saying, "Hurry!" to which Wormtail replied,

"It is ready, Master."

"Now…" the high voice said.

Wormtail grabbed the bundle of blankets and pulled it open, revealing what was inside. I gave out a yelp of surprise, but it was lost in the material that was shoved down my throat.

Inside the bundle was the shape of a crouched human child, but I had never seen anything less like a child before in my life. It was hairless and scaly, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble and its face – no child alive ever had a face like that – it was flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes.

I knew what it was immediately. It was Voldemort.

Wormtail threw him into the cauldron. _Let it drown_, I thought, my scar burning worse than ever, _please…let it drown…_

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!" Wormtail hissed suddenly. Dust somehow came out of the grave at my feet and flew right into the cauldron. "Flesh – of the servant – w-willingly given – you will – revive – your master." He stuck his right hand out in front of him and raised a dagger sharply in the air.

I knew what was coming right before it did. I shut my eyes tightly, but that didn't block out the scream that pierced the night. I couldn't stand to look…but I heard something fall into the cauldron…

Wormtail was gasping and moaning with agony, and it wasn't until I felt his breath on my face did I realize he was right in front of me.

"B-blood of the enemy…forcibly taken…you will…resurrect your foe."

I could do nothing to stop it. I was tied too tightly. I tried to struggle, but it was no use. I felt the blade of Wormtail's dagger dig into the crook of my right arm, felt blood pour down my robes. Wormtail, still panting with pain, took out a glass vial, put some of my blood in it, and carried it over to the potion. He poured it inside.

For a long time, the only thing that happened was more sparks and a blindingly bright light emanated from the cauldron. _Let it have gone wrong, _I thought desperately. _Let it have drowned…_When the sparks vanished and white steam came out instead, I was sure it had gone wrong. _Please…please let it be dead…_

But then, through the midst of the steam, I saw it. With an icy surge of terror, I saw the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising from the cauldron.

"Robe me," the high voice commanded. Wormtail, still sobbing and moaning, used his one hand to lift the black robes off the ground and threw them over his master's head.

The man stepped out of the cauldron, staring right at me. I stared back into the face that had haunted my nightmares for three years. Whiter than a skull with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was as flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils…

Lord Voldemort had risen again.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_I'm not playing along to your game_, I thought angrily.

As Voldemort raised his wand again, I dove around the headstone and heard it crack against it. I moved gingerly around Sam's body, around the pile of blood –

_Blood?_

Why the hell was there a pile of blood? It was pooling around the back of Sam's head. _He must've hit his head on that rock there as his body fell_, I decided. Why else would there be blood?

"We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry," said Voldemort's soft, cold voice, drawing nearer, as the Death Eaters laughed.

_What am I supposed to do?_

"You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harry… come out and play, then… it will be quick… it might even be painless… I would not know… I have never died…"

In that moment, I knew it was the end. There was no way I could survive this. But I decided that I wasn't going to die crouched and hiding, like a child playing hide-and-seek. I was going to die like my father, upright and trying to defend myself, even if it was nearly impossible. _I know I'm going to die tonight – I may as well die with at least a shred of dignity._

Before Voldemort could stick his face around the headstone, I stood up and jumped around it. Voldemort was ready. As soon as I was up, he shouted, "_Avada Kedavra_!" just as I shouted, "_Expelliarmus_!"

A jet of green light burst from Voldemorts wand right as a jet of red blasted from mine, and they met in midair. Suddenly, my wand was vibrating violently, my hand tightened around it so I couldn't have let go if I wanted to, and a narrow beam of golden light connected our two wands. As I followed the beam with my eyes, I saw that Voldemort's wand was jerking and vibrating too.

Nothing could've prepared me for what happened next. I felt my feet being lifted from the ground and found that Voldemort and I were both being raised into the air, our wands still connected. Still floating, we were glided away from the tombstone and came to rest on a patch of ground free of graves. The Death Eaters were shouting, but I couldn't hear what.

The golden beam splintered, but our wands remained connected by a thousand more beams that arched high over us, until we were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web. Voldemort shouted something to the Death Eaters, but I was focusing on a beautiful sound that filled the air. I recognized it; it was a phoenix song.

The sound filled me, as though on my side, and seemed to say _Don't break the connection _to me. _I know_, I told it. _I know I mustn't…_

But then, the beads of light started coming right back at me instead of Voldemort. They made my wand burn beneath my hands, and I concentrated everything I had on forcing the beads back toward Voldemort…and slowly, they came to a halt, and started moving the other way.

At once, Voldemort's wand began to emit echoing screams of pain, then a dense, smoky hand flew out of the tip of his wand…the ghost of the hand he had made Wormtail…more shouts of pain…and then something much larger came out. It looked as though it were made of the solidest, densest smoke…it was a head…and then a chest and arms…and the torso on old man I had only seen in a dream was pulling itself out of the wand.

"He was a real wizard, then?" the old man said, his eyes on Voldemort. "Killed me, that one did…You fight him, boy…" Already another body was emerging. It was a woman's, and I knew who it was as soon as I saw her…Bertha Jorkins.

"Don't let go now!" she cried. "Don't let him get you, Harry – don't let go!"

The two started circling around us, whispering words of encouragement to me and hissing something I couldn't hear to Voldemort. And when another head started emerging from the wand, I knew who it was before it even completely happened.

After the man had come completely out, I was looking into the ghostly face of my father…

"Your mother's coming," he said quietly. "She wants to see you…it will be alright…hold on…"

And then she came…a young woman with long hair, the shadowy form of Lily Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemort's wand. She walked closer to me, looking down at me, tears in her eyes, and spoke quietly so only I could hear,

"When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments. But we will give you time. You must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts. Take Sam with you, alright? Do you understand, Harry?"

"Yes," I gasped, fighting to hold onto my wand. "What happened to Sam? Why isn't he here?"

"We have no time to explain," Dad's voice spoke. "Do it now, be ready to run…do it now…"

"NOW!" I yelled, pulling my wand upward and the golden thread broke. The lights all vanished, the phoenix song died, but the figures of Voldemort's victims didn't disappear. Instead, they were closing in upon Voldemort, shielding me from his gaze.

I ran as I had never run in my life, knocking two confused Death Eaters aside. I zigzagged behind headstones, feeling curses following me, hearing them hit the headstones, pelted toward Sam's body, forgetting about the pain in my leg.

Ten feet from Sam, Voldemort screamed, "Stun him!" and I dove behind a marble angle to avoid the jets of red light. As I stood up and dashed toward Sam, I bellowed, "_Impedimenta!_" and pointed my wand at the Death Eaters. I think I may have hit at least one of them, but I didn't have time to look. I jumped over the cup and dove onto the ground next to Sam and grabbed his arm.

"Stand aside! I will kill him! He is mine!" Voldemort screamed. He was getting closer…for a brief moment I thought I won't make it…Voldemort's red eyes flamed in the darkness, I could see a smile on his face. _No_….

"_Accio_!" I yelled, pointing my wand at the cup. It soared toward me, and I caught it by the handle…

Next thing I knew, I was slammed onto the ground. All was silent for a moment before all hell broke loose. Somebody grabbed me and turned me over.

"Harry! Harry!" I opened my eyes and saw the starry sky above me, with Albus Dumbledore leaning over me. There were screams and shouts and footsteps and voices…

But only one sound, one voice, out of all the screams and shouts and yells could I actually hear…

It was a scream of horror, grief, and shock. It was Abbey's scream of,

"_SAM!_"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**(A/N: Back to Abbey's POV.)**

Had it been an eternity that we sat there?

It felt like it.

After Fleur and Krum were pulled from the tournament, after the muffled screams and yells had stopped altogether, I didn't know what to think. Everybody in the audience was getting jittery, but very few were talking. I kept biting my nails, impatient and worried – I kept biting them so much that Draco pulled my hand down and held it in his.

"You're going to kill me," he complained after a few hours. I looked down and noticed that I was gripping his hand so hard that my knuckles were white.

"Sorry," I said quietly. "I'm just…worried."

And that's when it happened.

There was a flash of light at the edge of the maze, and two bodies and the Triwizard Cup appeared on the ground.

There was silence as everybody stared in shock at what appeared to be Harry and Sam, unmoving, on the ground. Nobody moved or even spoke until Dumbledore ran forward and pulled Harry off of Sam. There was screaming, yelling, shouting. Above me, I saw Riley and Katie staring, Dad and Father pushing their way through the crowd and down the stairs.

Sam wasn't moving…the back of his head was bloody…I couldn't even see the rise and fall of his chest…Wait…

I was shocked. Stunned. In all the fuss over the fact that Harry might be killed by Voldemort and Draco might be killed by Moody, I hadn't thought about the fact that Sam could be…

It wasn't possible. Surely it wasn't.

And then, my shock was over, and it hit me.

"_SAM!_" I shrieked.

I shoved past Draco sharply, headed after Dad and Father. Draco, who had a momentary lapse of shock, tried to grab me at the last moment so I wouldn't go down there, but I yanked my arm out of his grasp roughly and ran down the stairs two at a time.

"Sam – Sam!" I screamed, stumbling over my feet at the bottom and somersaulting on the grass. My head throbbed, but I didn't care. I stood back up and raced over to where Sam was lying with Katie, Riley, Fred, and George circled around him. I hadn't seen them pass me. Harry was talking to Dumbledore, Dad, and Father several feet away. Dad was staring at Sam in shock, Father had silent tears running down his cheeks as he listened to Harry, who seemed to be in shock as well.

"Voldemort's back," I heard Harry saying to them.

_No…Moody's plan worked…he killed somebody I love, and Voldemort's back._

But I was too busy staring at Sam's blank face, his eyes closed, his mouth slightly open, the back of his head soaked in blood, to really think about what Voldemort being back could mean.

Katie was in hysterics, crying into George's chest. George was crying silently into her hair. Riley and Fred were staring at Sam in shock, their eyes wide. I was still convinced that it wasn't true.

"Sam!" I yelled again, lunging forward, but somebody grabbed me from behind. I spun around and found Harry holding me back, shaking his head slowly.

"Abbey, stop," he whispered. "You'll make things far worse for yourself if you try." 

"Let _go _of me, Harry!" I snapped, struggling to get out of his grasp. "Let go! He's not dead, he can't be –!"

"Abbey –" he started slowly. But somebody tapped him on the shoulder, and Draco appeared, his face solemn, and took me from Harry. I still struggled and fought and screamed, but it was much less now that Draco was there than when Harry was.

After I saw Riley start crying into Fred's chest lightly, it _really _hit me. The first tear fell down slowly. And that opened a gate and tears were flowing down my cheeks like a waterfall. I was about to bury my face in Draco's chest when I heard it.

"It's alright, son, I've got you…come on…hospital wing…"

"Dumbledore said to stay…"

"You need to lie down…come on…"

_Moody_.

I looked around and saw that Moody was dragging Harry, who was still staring at Sam, away from the field.

_No…not Harry too…I already lost one of my brothers, I'm not loosing the other one!_

I shoved Draco off me and pulled out my wand. First, it was only those in the circle around Sam that stared at me. Then somebody in the crowd must've pointed me out to the rest, because I could feel literally all of their eyes on me as I raised it and pointed it right at Moody.

For a second, I think they thought I was going to kill him. For a second,_ I_ thought so too. But then I just screamed,

"_Impedimenta!_"

An unsuspecting Moody spun around at the last moment, but was unable to block it or duck in time. He was bound up in ropes that I had conjured. Riley spun on me, tears still pouring down her cheeks, her face full of shock.

"Abbey!" she admonished. "You cursed a teacher!"

"He's not a teacher!" I yelled, my voice echoing over the silent stands. Everybody was listening to Riley and I fight, although there were sill people sobbing hysterically. "He's the Death Eater, the spy, the one who sent Harry to Voldemort to be killed!"

"He's an ex-Auror!"

"Riley, I'm not stupid, he _told _me!" I exclaimed. "Dad and Father knew, too! So did Dumbledore and Draco!"

Dumbledore called Harry back, and he stood next to us as we mourned over Sam. None of us said anything. I don't know what Dumbledore did with the fake Moody, I don't know where Dad and Father went, I don't know where Mrs. Weasley and Bill went, I don't know how all the students in the stands were evacuated, I don't know if anybody was still in the stands with us at that point.

All I know was that Harry, Riley, Katie, Fred, George, Draco, and I stood there for what felt like hours crying and sobbing and, every now and then, screaming or yelling something.

Finally, once we had all calmed down at least a bit, Riley whispered to Harry,

"How…how did it happen?" We all turned to look at him.

"Wormtail," he replied quietly, not looking away from some spot a few yards from Sam. "He…It was just the Killing Curse. That was it."

"Then why is he bleeding?" George asked, sniffing. Harry shrugged.

"I don't know. He tried to dive out of the way, to hide behind a headstone, but it hit him before he could. He must've hit his head after he fell or something. There was a huge pool of blood by his head when I grabbed him."

"But the Killing Curse just kills you. You're gone right away," Draco said, sounding confused. _Wait…_

"And you can't bleed after you die," I whispered. "Well, maybe you can a little. But not _that _much. Because your…your heart stops pumping blood," I finished slowly before I walked forward shakily, and knelt down by Sam's side.

I reached out a shaking hand and stuck my hand down his shirt and set it firmly onto his still warm chest.

I could feel it instantly. It was faint, unsteady, and weak, but it was there nonetheless.

I looked up slowly, more tears falling down my cheeks, up toward those surrounding me.

"He…he's not dead."

**A/N: I told you to stay with me! If you're confused as to how Sam survived, it'll be explained next chapter.**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	42. Chapter 42

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to .uSxX, ann, Jessica682, and HPfan4ever for the reviews! **

**I **_**told **_**you all to stay with me, that it'd be worth it. **

**I forgot to mention earlier that I've reached 100 reviews! I'm soooo excited and grateful for all the support and help you guys have all given me. I write these for you readers (and so I don't go crazy with my mind overflowing with ideas) and I absolutely **_**love **_**your feedback! Thanks again, and I love you all!**

**This is in Sam's POV again or a while.**

Chapter 42

I groaned softly.

_Where am I_? Was my first thought. But then I remembered. _What the fuck? How the hell am I still alive?_ Was my second thought.

And then I remembered – I had dove out of the way of the curse right before it would've hit me, falling behind the gravestone. When I tilted my very sore head slightly to the side, I could see a bush emitting smoke. The curse must've hit it and lit it on fire briefly.

My third thought was; _why the fuck does the back of my head hurt so badly_? I slowly reached my hand back and touched the back of my head, where it throbbed so horribly. I knew what the thick liquid that I felt was before I even moved my hand back to where I could see it.

Blood.

I must've hit my head on a rock or the gravestone or something and cracked my skull. That's where it all came from.

Then, I could hear what was happening around me. Somebody was screaming, nearby, but I couldn't see them. There were others, many others, laughing at the person's pain. My fourth thought; _Why would anybody _ever _laugh at somebody else's pain?_

And then, I realized just who it was screaming.

Harry.

No…no…_NO!_ It…it couldn't be Harry.

This was just like my boggart. After Abbey, I know it would've been Riley, then Harry. For a moment, I briefly hoped that it really _was_ just a boggart, but I'm not stupid. Somebody was torturing Harry, and with the Cruciatus Curse.

Three guesses who.

It stopped abruptly.

"A little break," a high, cold voice that I could place instantly said. "A little pause…That hurt, didn't it, Harry? You don't want me to do that again, do you?" Harry remained silent. _Good for you!_ I thought. _Don't play his fucking stupid game!_

"I asked you whether you wanted me to do that again," Voldemort said softly. "Answer me! _Imperio_!"

I waited in silence, fighting desperately to get to my wand. I could feel it prodding my back from the pocket of my cloak that had gotten stuck under me. But I was weak, I had lost a huge amount of blood and could hardly move an inch.

"I WON'T!"

Harry screamed it into the night. I was shocked. How had he fended of _Voldemort's _Imperious Curse? I've heard that it's the hardest _ever _to fend off. I would never, _ever _be able to do that.

The last thought I had before I blacked out again was a silent pray to a God that I wasn't even raised to believe in. _Please…please…find a way to get us out of this. If not me, at least Harry. Please._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Next thing I knew, I was waking up slowly.

_What? How am I still alive? _I had thought this exact thing earlier, and it was pretty sad. But, honestly, I didn't understand how I survived. Or how I was suddenly in such a comfortable place, with a blanket draped over me and a pillow under my head.

_Is Harry still alive?_

I groaned slightly as I rolled onto my back and felt the back of my head. It was completely healed.

_Did Harry somehow get us out of there_?

My eyelids felt like they were sown shut. I sat there for several minutes willing them to open before they actually did very gradually.

When the blurriness I had finally went away, I realized where I was. It was the white, clean Hospital Wing in Hogwarts. I still didn't understand how I had gotten there when I saw the sun was shining outside and into the windows. How long had it been? At least eight hours, I guessed.

When I tilted my head to the side, I saw that I wasn't alone. Draco and Abbey were there, too. They appeared to be asleep, sitting on the bed next to mine, resting against the headboards. Abbey's head had dropped onto Draco's shoulder, and his arm was wrapped loosely around her waist.

Apparently, though, Abbey was the only one asleep, because Draco kept shifting his head from leaning against the headboard and resting on the top of her head. At first I thought he was just fidgeting in his sleep, but then he slowly opened his eyes and jumped slightly when he saw me staring at him.

"Welcome back," he said quietly, suppressing a yawn, "to the world of despair."

"What do you mean?" I asked, slowly sitting up. I was still sore, but not as bad as I had been before when I was still in the graveyard.

"I haven't seen anybody smile the past two days." I groaned yet again.

"I've been out for two days?" I asked before his words really sunk in. And then…they did. "Wait…why hasn't anybody smiled? What happened?" I was so worried. So freaked. _What could happen that was so bad that nobody had smiled for two days?_

"Right, I guess you don't know," Draco said awkwardly, shifting slightly. "Well…I don't know if I'm really the right person to tell you, honestly."

"Well nobody else is going to," I pointed out, motioning to the otherwise empty Hospital Wing.

"Oh…alright…" He paused. "When you and Potter…Harry…were taken to the graveyard – you remember that, right?" he added. I nodded. "Well…You-Know-Who was resurrected from the dead."

"Voldemort?" I asked. He nodded slowly, but, to my surprise, didn't flinch from the name.

Shit. Fuck. Damn. I had thought maybe, _maybe _that's what was up. But I had hoped, hoped dearly, that I was wrong. That I had been dreaming, or something. But no, it was real, I had been right.

"Shit," I muttered. "I thought I had been dreaming." Upon Draco's questioning gaze, I explained. "I…I woke up for a moment, in the graveyard, after I had dove aside to avoid the curse. And…I heard him. Voldemort. Torturing Harry, taunting him, using the Imperious on him." Draco's face appeared horrified. "Don't tell him I told you…He probably doesn't want anybody to know. But he fought of the Imperious."

"I know," Draco said. "He did in class, too."

"No, he fought off _Voldemort's _Imperious Curse," I said. He didn't seem impressed. "I've heard stories…first-hand accounts…of how hard that is. And it's _hard_. Harder than the usual Imperious." Draco was silent, probably imagining how hard that would be. Finally, after several minutes of silence, I asked the question that had been bothering me.

"What…what happened? In the graveyard and…and when we got back. How did we get back, by the way?"

"I…I don't really know what happened in the graveyard," Draco answered honestly. "Harry told Dumbledore, Abbey, Riley, and your fathers, but none of them seemed to want to talk about it."

"What about afterward?" I asked quietly. He sighed slowly.

"Well…Harry somehow got back to you and the Cup, which transported you right back. You were…you were believed to be dead, for the longest time. There was chaos. Everybody was running all over, screaming, sobbing."

"How did everyone react? Like, Katie, Cat, Riley, Harry, Dad, Father?"

"Well…Katie was in hysterics. Bawling, sobbing, screaming into George Weasley's chest." I flinched. That seemed in character, and the thought of it made me upset.

"Abbey didn't believe it. Harry, who was in shock, had to hold her back to keep her from trying to shake you awake before I got down there to hold her, at which point she just started sobbing like Katie was. Riley was in shock like Harry until she started crying too."

The thought of the most important people in my life sobbing over my "dead" body was too much for me to take…I had to look down and blink back tears.

"What about Dad and Father?" I asked quietly.

"Well…they were talking to Dumbledore. I don't really know what about. They were upset, obviously, crying quietly, but they didn't let it get to them like the others."

"What happened next?"

"Well…Moody tried to take Harry back up to the castle, but Abbey jinxed him," Draco started, but I was already shocked.

"Why the hell would Cat jinx a _teacher_? Even if she was pissed and upset?"

"Because he was the spy," Draco said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "He admitted it to Abbey a while back when she came to him because she suspected him, but threatened everybody she loved to keep her quiet. And then he told me, one day, when she ran into me when he was chasing her down the hallway."

"Why was he chasing her?"

"Because he thought she had told somebody, since Professor Lupin had overheard their conversation through those crazy mirrors you guys have, and Moody was trying to…to use the Cruciatus curse on her to get her to say who she had told, but she ran, and they ran into me on the hallways," he answered. I felt my eyes widen at the thought…and the flashback…of Abbey under the Cruciatus. "He had no choice but to tell me…"

"So…Moody was the spy?" I asked, not sure I could believe it. "But…_how?_ It's hard to believe…"

"He wasn't really Moody, he was Crouch's son in disguise. His son had escaped Azkaban and rejoined You-Know-Who. He was the one Riley and Abbey and I ran into after the World Cup, only he wasn't Moody yet, he was still Crouch's son."

It took a while for this to sink in. The one who had helped me through the tournament…the one who had told me I was going to grow to be a great wizard…

_The one who had told me I was lucky to have such a great family_…

Now I understood why he had, so randomly a few weeks ago, told me I had a great family. Because he had just admitted that to Abbey, and she had kept it quiet because he had threatened everybody she loved…which included me…but she hadn't told…she had kept herself quiet to protect us all…

"How…how did you guys realize that I wasn't…you know…_dead_?" I asked after several long moments.

"Well…it all started when Riley finally broke the silence, asking how…how it had happened. Harry told her that it was just the Killing Curse. But you were bleeding. And when George Weasley asked why, he replied that you must've hit your head on the gravestone. But…but Abbey pointed out that you can't bleed once you're dead. At least, not _that _much…"

"Cat realized it?" I whispered, shocked. The youngest of them all, the smallest, most vulnerable, least experienced, the one who had been threatened and under so much pressure to be perfectly silent for weeks, had almost been tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, had realized something others, who (except for maybe Harry) hadn't been through quite as much as her, hadn't. "What…what did she do?" 

"She checked for a pulse," Draco answered. "And she felt it. Obviously."

"How did everybody react?"

"Well, it was such a shock. We didn't really know what to believe." He paused. "And then Katie broke free from George and lunged toward you, trying to shake you awake. Both Weasley twins had to hold her back, at which point she started screaming at Abbey, calling her a liar, saying that you were obviously dead and she should just accept it. Riley and Harry ran over to get Dumbledore and your fathers. They levitated you right here. Your family and Harry went with Dumbledore to listen to Harry's story, and came back several minutes later…"

I shook my head slowly. A million thoughts were whirling through my mind. Wondering where Riley and Katie were now…how I would react if it were somebody I loved instead of me that had "died"…exactly what had happened in the graveyard…

Finally, after what felt like hours, I asked,

"Where's everybody else?"

"Madam Pomfrey convinced them to leave," he replied. "Told them there was no point in waiting and crowding you. But Abbey refused to leave – she's the most stubborn of them all. And I wasn't going to just leave her here." He shrugged the shoulder that Cat wasn't on.

"Does everybody know? About Voldemort's return?" I saw his eyes darken briefly.

"Well…Fudge sent in Dementors and they…well, they performed the Kiss on Crouch." I flinched. Just the thought of that got me upset since just a year earlier Father had been threatened with that exact fate. "And he says that Harry is disturbed in the mind, that Voldemort can't really be gone. And he'll probably just say you had hallucinations; that you weren't really at the graveyard. He's doing anything and everything to avoid admitting that he's back."

"What about Cat? She knew, right? And you and Dad?"

"All Abbey, your fathers and I knew was that Moody was really Crouch and that he _planned _to send him to Voldemort. Abbey was pretty pissed when he said he didn't believe them."

"But between us all, that should be enough evidence," I pointed out. Draco shrugged again.

"Like I said, he'll do anything to deny that it's true," he said. "He doesn't believe Professor Lupin because…well, because he's a werewolf. He's joined the people who think Black isn't really innocent, so he doesn't trust him. So he's not going to trust Abbey because she's their daughter, you because you're their son. And me?" He paused, looking down. "My father was one of the Death Eaters Harry listed. Everybody knows he's not trustworthy. He thinks I'm just the same."

"But that's _shit!_" I exclaimed so loudly that Abbey twitched in her sleep. I lowered my voice. "None of that's true!" I wanted nothing more than to find Fudge and kill him right then and there with my bare hands.

I suppose my yell had also woken Madam Pomfrey, because she came bustling out of her office at that moment and rushed over to me.

"Mr. Malfoy, I told you and Miss Black-Lupin to be quiet if you were going to stay!" she reprimanded.

"No, Madam Pomfrey, that was me," I said quickly. "I'm sorry, I was just…upset."

"Right," she said, shoving a glass of some vile-looking potion into my hands. I closed my eyes and swallowed it in one gulp. "Now close your eyes and go back to sleep," she said. "You need your rest. Mr. Malfoy, please refrain from waking up my patients if you want to stay here."

"Yes ma'am," Draco muttered as she hastened away. I laid back down and stared up at the ceiling.

"Maybe," I muttered to myself, though I knew Draco could hear me too. "Maybe I'll be lucky and when I wake up, I'll find this was all a dream."

**A/N: This chapter is rather short, but oh well!**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	43. Chapter 43

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to Jessica682, HPfan4ever, and .uSxX for the reviews! **

**Sorry this is a little late!**

**I'd just like to warn everybody that school started Friday for me, so updates might be a little slower. But I'll try to continue to update once a week! No promises, though. It'll probably actually end up being once every two weeks, but I'll try to update every week if I can!**

**Back to Abbey's POV!**

Chapter 43

"I don't understand; whydo I have to go back to Privet Drive?"

It was a few days after the Third Task. I can't really remember much that happened in that time. I think I've blocked it out. I don't remember how I had reacted when I first saw Sam awake. I don't remember what Draco said to finally get me to leave the Hospital Wing hours, maybe even _days_, later. I don't remember what we did in any classes those next few days.

I _do_ remember that Sam had left the Hospital Wing, completely unharmed (well…completely _fixed_) the previous day. I remember that almost immediately, he and Harry had argued over who should get the winnings, as neither of them wanted _any_ of it. I knew why; it reminded them both of what had happened. Even splitting it in half got them fighting. It almost turned into a full out duel, and would have, if it weren't for the fact that I was there and that Sam was still a little injured. In the end, Harry gave it to the Weasley twins.

But now Sam, Harry, Riley and I were talking to Father and Dad in an empty classroom just before the Leaving Feast. Father had just told us that Dumbledore was making Harry go back to Privet Drive, if only for the beginning of that summer.

"Dumbledore has his reasons," Father replied, shrugging. "He wouldn't tell us what, exactly, those were, though. All he said was that it was safer there."

"But we have protection around our house!" I pointed out, annoyed. "You guys put it up before we moved in!"

"I know," Dad answered. "We aren't any happier about this than you. And, believe me, nor are the Dursleys. But don't worry, it won't be all summer. It'll only be for a few weeks. We'll convince Dumbledore to let you come live with us again soon, alright?" Harry huffed.

"Fine. Can I come back next year, though?" he asked.

"It depends what happens next year," Father replied, looking grave. "We've talked to Dumbledore, and we might be able to make it happen. Again, though, it just all depends on how next year goes down," he repeated. Harry groaned; we could all tell, by his tone of voice, that he expected things next year to be worse and that Harry would have to go back to the Dursley's the following summer.

"Great, that's fantastic," Harry snapped, obviously pissed. He paused. "I'll see you guys later." He turned and hurried from the room, slamming the door behind him. Father sighed and went to go after him, but Riley stopped him.

"Stop," she ordered, setting her hand on his arm. "He just needs time. Give him some space. He gets ticked off really easily ever since…well, since the incident." Nobody really wanted to speak of exactly what had happened. It was Dad's turn to sigh.

"Alright, well, we need to go, but just tell Harry that we're going to take him to Privet Drive once the train gets in, alright?" Riley nodded. "Well, we'll see you guys tonight, then." He and Father left, leaving Sam, Riley, and I alone.

"Nothing's ever going to be the same again, is it?" Sam whispered after a moment of silence. Riley and I looked over at him, and I shook my head.

"Probably not," I replied.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Riley asked. I shook my head again.

"I don't know."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I thought we promised not to get each other anything as a six month anniversary gift."

It was the next Saturday. Mine and Draco's six month had actually been the previous Sunday, but we had decided that it was an insignificant date and not to celebrate it but, despite this, and despite Father's rule of "no boy/girlfriends in the house" (even Sam and Riley knew this rule was only in place because of Draco), I had invited (or more like _forced_) him go come over.

I had hid it from Father. Draco had tried to convince me it was a bad idea, that there was no way we could go without him finding it out, but he had finally agreed to come and had Flooed over when Father was at work and Dad was out. We had snuck out of the house without Sam and Riley noticing and headed down through the back yard.

"It's _not_," I promised, keeping my hands over his eyes – I wanted where I was taking him to be a surprise. "Step down," I added, and he did. I came to a stop slowly. "Ready?" I asked.

"Yep," he replied, clearly confused. I removed my hands from over his eyes and heard him gasp when he saw the sight before him.

Let me explain where we were.

The night after we had gotten back from Hogwarts, after Father had dropped Harry off at Privet Drive, Riley, Sam, and I had stayed up late in the fourth floor Drawing Room, sulking about the loss of somebody who's like our brother.

Finally, Sam had suggested we go for a walk. So we headed out through the woods that skirted on the outside of our yard, which, according to Father, was our property. We crossed the little creek and soon found ourselves standing on a beautiful, deserted beach with a long dock and was surrounded by the woods.

Apparently, it was on our property too. Father knew it was there, but he was just waiting for us to find it. It was the southern tip of England. We hadn't realized how close we were to the ocean.

Of course, when we found out, our first questions were; "What if there's a hurricane?", "What if there's a tsunami?", and "What if it floods?" I suppose we grew up in a society where we always expect the worst.

So, I had decided to show it to Draco. I had set up a picnic on the dock and thought we could watch the sunset before heading back home.

Yeah, maybe it's a little too romantic for a thirteen and fifteen year old, but I don't care. Who knew how long this war would let us survive. We might be dead tomorrow.

"Do you guys own this place?" Draco asked, pulling me back to reality. He had turned around to face me in awe. I nodded.

"Yep.."

"It's beautiful."

"I know," I replied, before taking his hand in mine and leading him over to the dock. Once there, I slipped my shoes off and sat on the edge, dipping my feet into the water. Draco followed suit.

"How come you never told me about this place?"

"Because even I didn't know about it," I replied. Upon his confused glance, I explained. "Riley, Sam, and I found it a few days ago. Father was the only one that knew about it, and said he wanted us to find it before he told us about it."

"That's obnoxious," Draco replied. I nodded, agreeing.

We pulled the food out of the picnic basket and started eating slowly and quietly, enjoying our time together, as we knew it would be limited during the summer.

"How's your father?" I asked quietly after a moment. Draco shrugged but didn't say anything, and I didn't push him. He'd say when he was ready.

"How's Sam been?" Draco asked several minutes later.

"He still gets crazy painful migraines randomly, usually in the middle of the night. He'll wake up screaming from pain – although we still don't know if he's screaming because of the pain or the nightmares. Even he doesn't know."

"How does he get the headaches to go away?"

"A potion. My room's right next to his, so whenever I hear it I have to get up and shove it down his throat, since he can't see or hear or smell or feel anything – except the pain in his head, obviously he can feel that."

"Can't Madam Pomfrey make it go stop or something?" Draco asked. "I thought she said it was all better."

"She said it'll go away, but there's no way to get them to just stop," I explained. "After a head injury like that, it takes a while for everything to heal completely. She said they'll slowly get less painful until they're gone completely, but that it'll probably take until at least August."

Draco flinched.

"That sucks," he said quietly. I nodded.

"Obviously."

We finished eating in near silence. The only sound that broke the silence was the sound of the waves hitting the shore, and birds chiming in the woods. But it wasn't awkward silence – it was comfortable. That was one thing about our relationship; our silences were never awkward. Even when we had absolutely nothing to say to one another, we just silently enjoyed each other's company.

I laid my head on his shoulder, staring out at the water, and sighed, content. Draco wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"It's getting late," I murmured when the sun started to set. "We should really get headed back."

"Let's wait, just a little while longer," Draco said quietly. "Who knows when we'll get to see each other again?" I sighed and, even though I thought we really should leave, stayed, because I knew he was right.

"Abbey?" Draco whispered after another moment.

"Hmm?" I replied.

"I-I love you…You know that?"

So I was right. That night, when we were walking back to my Common Room after Moody had threatened the two of us, that _was _what he had been on the verge of saying but had stopped.

_Why the hell am I thinking about that at a time like this?_

To answer his question; yes, I knew that. I feet like I always had. And, to be honest, I loved him too. And, again, I feet like I always had.

I nodded slowly, keeping my head resting on his shoulder.

"Yeah – yeah, I know," I replied quietly. I paused for a moment – a long moment. So long Draco seemed to grow restless. "I love you too." Draco seemed to let out a sigh of relief, as though he was afraid I wouldn't say it back, and kissed the top of my head lightly.

"I know," he answered. I looked up at him and found that he was staring down at me. I leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips.

"We really should head back now," I said as I pulled back.

"Yeah…I thought you'd say that. We probably should." We stood back up and slipped our shoes back on before heading back down the dock and beach hand-in-hand.

When we got back, it seemed that the house was deserted. I figured Riley must've gone off to the Weasley's, Sam must've gone to Katie's, and Father and Dad were still out. At least, I supposed so. If not, why was the house so dark?

"Maybe, now that nobody's here, I can, y'know, stay for a while," Draco suggested quietly when we were standing by the fireplace in the downstairs drawing room, where the Floo network was connected.

"Won't your parents wonder where you are?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Dad won't even notice I'm gone," he replied, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close. I could feel his warm breath on my face, I could smell the chocolate frogs we had just ate, as I wrapped arms around his neck.

"And your mum?" I asked, feeling sorry for him because of his father, but not letting it show because I knew he wouldn't want my pity.

"She knows I'm here," he said. "She doesn't care." I smiled, pressing my forehead against his. I was about to reply to him when he pressed his lips against mine, cutting me off. At first, I was shocked, and let his soft lips move against mine before I started kissing him back, melting our lips together.

Slowly, the kiss deepened. Sweet, chocolate-tasting tongues slipped into mouths, dancing against one another. His hands slid from around my waist up my back slowly, pulling me, if possible, even closer. My fingers locked into his soft hair.

"Abigail."

We froze.

After a few seconds, my eyes flew open, and I found myself staring right into Draco's stormy, shocked grey eyes, our lips and bodies still pressed together.

Even Draco knew that voice well enough to know who was standing in the doorway.

Slowly, I parted our lips and turned my head a mere fraction of an inch to see Father standing in the doorway, leaning on the doorframe, his arms crossed, sending glares not only to Draco, but to me as well. I slipped out of Draco's arms, biting my bottom lip. I could feel my face slowly heat up.

"Hello, Father," I muttered awkwardly. When he didn't reply and merely glared at us, I asked, "H-how was work tonight?" Father didn't answer.

"Abigail, can I speak with you…alone for a moment?" he asked after another long pause, during which I could swear I could hear my heart beating.

"That's okay, sir, I really must be going," Draco said quickly, his cheeks still pink, as he made a move toward the fireplace.

"Not so fast, Mr. Malfoy," Father said quickly, causing Draco to stop in his tracks. "I want to speak with you, too, but I'd like a moment alone with my daughter first." He turned and swiftly left the room. I slowly followed, not looking at Draco again until I had reached the doorway, where I paused for a moment to look back at him. He had turned around so his back was to me and was tugging at his hair stressfully. I slipped out without another word and found Father in the hallway.

"I thought I told you that you were not to see him anymore?" he said in a quiet but dangerous voice after I had shut the door behind me.

"Actually," I corrected, "You just told me that he couldn't be here, which, I realize that I didn't actually listen to, but Riley and Sam didn't either!"

"I don't care if Fred and Katie come here," he said in the same dangerous voice. "I even told Riley and Sam that. It's just _him _I don't want here."

"Why? Why is he any different than Fred and Katie?" My voice was rising. I wouldn't be surprised if Draco could hear me through the walls now.

"You know _exactly _why –"

"He's not his father!" I exclaimed, getting angry. There was no way that Draco couldn't here me now. "You know better than anybody that just because someone was born into a bad family, it doesn't mean they're bad too!"

"But being raised by his father, it's hard not to be!" Father said, finally raising his voice. "You don't understand, you've never met him!" He paused, and his eyes widened slightly. "Have you?" I shook my head slowly. He seemed to let out a sigh. "Thank Merlin. He's a horrible person! My parents weren't that bad!"

"You remember the first thing you said to me after you found out that I already knew who you were?" I asked, not quite as loudly, though not quietly. Father shrugged, obviously not sure where I was going with that.

"I asked you if you hated me?" Oh…that's true….

"Yes," I replied, improvising. "And when I said that I didn't hate anybody, even Voldemort or Snape or Malfoy, and you asked me what Malfoy had to do with anything, and I told you…" He shrugged.

"I don't remember." I sighed.

"You _laughed_! You laughed and said that we reminded you of a few of your old friends!" He frowned, obviously having forgotten ever saying this. "I know who those friends were. They were Lily and James, Harry's parents. And if Lily could get over her hatred of James by giving him a chance, _you _can get over your hatred of Draco by giving him a chance."

Father sighed a long, deep sigh before closing his eyes briefly and sighing again.

"Fine," he said after a long moment. "Tell him to come over for dinner tomorrow."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	44. Chapter 44

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to HPfan4ever, Jessica682, PenNameless1994, and .uSxX for the reviews! **

**Sorry this is a little late! (…a LOT late…) But, as I said, school started, so updates might be a little more spaced out. Plus my sister got married last Saturday (I know I've said this before, but this is my OTHER sister, I SWEAR!). I can't even begin to explain how busy I've been. And this chapter, for some reason, wasn't easy for me to write. Which is why it halfway sucks.**

**Be sure to check out my new poll! It's kind of a random question…but still, I'd like to see your opinion!**

Chapter 44

"Stop fidgeting!"

"Well I'm a little nervous."

"Can't blame you there," Sam muttered. "Father's nuts."

"But if you fidget, he'll judge you more," Riley pointed out.

"But if you don't appear at least a _little_ nervous, he'll think you're too cocky and full of yourself," Sam instructed.

"And don't say anything that'll make you sound stupid," Riley added. "He doesn't like stupid people. So if he says something you don't understand, unless it's a question, just nod along."

"But make sure you say _some_thing," Sam said. "And don't sound _too _smart – again, he'll think you're full of yourself."

"Don't bring up your father or mother at all. Or the fact that you're related. And if he does, then change the subject as quick as possible."

"Act as though you're completely comfortable with the 'gay' thing." I could see Draco becoming overwhelmed, his face showing apprehension and anxiety.

"And –"

"Shut up!" I exclaimed, effectively cutting Riley off. She and Sam stared at me, confused. "Look, Draco, just…don't over-think it, okay?"

"Be yourself," Riley said quickly. I turned to glare at her. She sighed. "That's it, I'm done! That was what I was going to say before anyways, that's all. I swear!" she added when I gave her a disbelieving look.

The door to the room burst open suddenly and Dad and Father entered, holding hands. Dad was watching Father closely, and Father was doing the same to Draco, who swallowed his pride and drew up all his courage.

"Hello Draco," Dad said civilly as Father sat down right across from Draco.

"Good evening sir," Draco replied. Father refused to say anything to him – he hardly acknowledged him except to stare at him angrily.

"How has your summer been so far?" Dad asked, obviously trying to prevent awkward silence as our house-elf, Cora – who absolutely _idolized _Father, unlike his family house-elf as a child, Kreacher – brought our food out and set it in the middle of the table.

"Alright," Draco said. "It doesn't really feel like summer, though. The year went by so fast." Dad laughed lightly.

"I know what you mean," Sam agreed. "I can't believe that I only have one more year before I'm done with Hogwarts."

"What are we _ever _going to do without you?" Riley asked, sounding quite serious rather than joking. Sam glared at her, but I relieved his tension with her by adding,

"Or Fred and George."

I don't know what had been going on between the two lately. But they had been all awkward and arguing constantly. I kept trying to talk to them about it, but neither one would let anything slip. I felt kind of left out, but wasn't going to bring it up until it got too significant not to.

At least I had managed to get them both laughing at the same time, something that hadn't happened for weeks.

"What do you want to do once you graduate, Sam?" Draco asked once it had been quiet for a few minutes.

"Well, Fred and George have it in their mind that they're going to open a joke shop –"

"They also have it in their mind that they're not going to go back to school this year," Riley muttered angrily, cutting Sam off. Sam turned to glare at her and shot back,

"For the last time, Riley, that wasn't my idea!"

It had happened so suddenly that Dad, Father, Draco and I didn't have time to react. We had all known that something had been off between Riley and Sam (Draco knew because I had been griping about it for days) but none of us had been able to get it out of them. And now…was _this _why? Because Riley was convinced it was _Sam's _idea for Fred and George to not even go back to school next year?

"Oh really? Because Fred won't fess up on whose idea it was, says he doesn't want me to get mad at him. And George said the same thing. Who else would it be, besides you?"

"I don't know, but it _wasn't _me!" Sam exclaimed.

I knew who it was. It was Fred's. That's why Fred wouldn't tell her. He knew she was mad at Sam because she thought it was him, and didn't want her to be just as mad at him. But he was a Gryffindor, and a Weasley at that, so I decided to "pretend" to blurt it,

"That wasn't Sam, Riley, that was Fred." I felt all eyes on me. "What? I was there when they said it." Well…sort of. I overheard him telling his idea to George right after he thought of it.

"You have _got _to be kidding me," Riley muttered after a moment of silence. "That's why he won't tell me who it is!" She stood up quickly. "I'll be right back –"

"Sit down young lady," Father said strictly. "You can wait to talk to Fred till _after _dinner." Riley sat back down slowly, shocked and confused. Generally, Father didn't care if we got up during dinner. I supposed it was because of Draco being there.

"Anyways," Sam said quietly after a minute. "Fred and George have it in their mind that they're going open a joke shop and that I'll go in on it with them, but I don't know. I kind of like the idea of training to be an Auror."

"You would make a good Auror," I said.

"And you have experience," Draco agreed. "And good references, since your father's one."

"Yeah, and I thought, you know, with all the crap going on it would be beneficial to have as many Aurors as possible."

"You realize you have to go through years of training before you can actually be a qualified Auror, right?" Riley pointed out. "The war could be well over by the time you're done training." Sam shrugged.

"You never know."

It was quiet in the dinning room for several minutes. It was much more awkward than the silence that Draco and I had experienced the night before, I must say. I felt like I needed to say something, but I couldn't think of anything to say.

"Say, Draco, how've your parents been?"

I should've known that was coming. Father wouldn't be able to hold it back. Why did he have to be so damn protective?

I half expected Draco to get extremely nervous, since we have warned him not to mention his parents if it was the last thing he did, but he seemed to answer with little to no hesitation.

"Mother's alright, I suppose. I haven't seen Father much, though. He's been…preoccupied. But whenever I do see him, he always seems stressed. He says he's been loosing his influence over people. I don't really see why that's such a big deal, but I suppose that's where we're different."

Father seemed at least a little satisfied with Draco's answer – he didn't seem as upset as he had been before.

"Do you get along with them?"

"I get along with Mother," Draco replied. "Not so much with Father though."

"Why's that?"

"We…we believe in a lot of different things."

"Like what?"

"Father," Riley said, sounding shocked. "Don't you think that's a bit…personal?"

"It's alright," Draco said, obviously trying to satisfy Father. "It's a lot of things, to be honest. Like…he thinks money is everything, he thinks all Muggleborns are scum and purebloods are the best –"

"If you don't think that, then why did you always used to call Hermione and other Muggleborns 'Mudbloods'?" Father asked, seeming a little upset.

"Because I was eager to please Father," Draco answered honestly. "That's all you want to do when you're a child, is please your parents. And I thought I could, but then I learned there were more important things than making your parents happy. Like making yourself happy."

I think Father actually looked pleased with his answer. Maybe he had even changed his opinion of Draco…slightly. I found Draco's free hand under the table and squeezed it gently, shooting him a slight smile that I know nobody missed.

"What does your mother believe?" Father asked, now actually sounding interested and not like he was just trying to interrogate Draco.

"Well, she never really says," he replied. "She acts like she believes everything Father believes, but I think she only does it so he doesn't get upset and that she really doesn't believe that. I think she believes more of what I do than what Father does, though."

"I see."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The rest of the night was rather uneventful. I think Father was actually rather impressed with Draco, but refused to tell me even after he had left. On the bright side, he no longer seemed to hate him.

It was about a week later that the next interesting event happened. We were eating dinner when it happened. It was totally random, and completely confusing.

"We're moving."

The words had left Father's mouth suddenly. Riley, Sam and I started and stared at him, confused, while Dad refused to look at us.

"Either you're being stupid, or you just _are _stupid," Sam said after a minute of shocked silence. When Father said nothing, he exclaimed, "But we just moved in here! Why are we moving?"

"It's difficult to explain," Father started uncertainly.

"Well can't you try?" Riley asked.

"Dumbledore thinks this house isn't safe enough anymore," Dad said slowly.

"Why not? We have protection up," I pointed out.

"Well…earlier today, the Ministry decided to change their position on…on whether or not they believe I'm innocent," Father said. We all stared at him blankly.

"You mean…they don't think you're innocent anymore?" I asked. Father shook his head slowly. "But…but why?" I exclaimed, slowly getting more and more pissed off.

"It's because I openly support Harry and Dumbledore, and you know what they've been saying about them lately."

Of course I did. From the first day of summer, they had been horrible to Dumbledore and Harry because they didn't believe them. They thought they were making the whole "Voldemort's back" thing up. But, let's get real; why would they _ever_ do that?

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Sam said after a moment. Dad nodded slowly.

"We know. But they're on the search already. We have to get out of here."

"Well where are we going to go?"

"My childhood home," Father replied. "I can't tell you exactly where that is because Dumbledore's the Secret-Keeper. He's coming by tonight to tell you all so that way we can move in as soon as possible."

"Will it just be us there?" I asked.

"And the Weasley's," Dad answered. "And other people from the Order will be coming and going."

"The Order?" Riley asked, confused.

"Oh, about that," Father explained. "The Order of the Phoenix is an organization Dumbledore created back during the first war. It ended with the war, but he's created it again. We're lucky that the person in charge of the search for me is in the Order."

"So, what, this house is going to be like the Headquarters for the Order?" I asked. Dad nodded slowly.

"Pretty much."

Well…this was going to be an interesting summer.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Psst…Dung."

Mundungus stopped in the hallway and turned to face me.

"What now, Abbey?" 

"Take me with you."

"Huh?"

"I want to talk to Harry. Take me with you."

It was a few days into August. Living at Grimmauld place had been, to say the least, horrible. Kreacher hated us all; all we did was clean; and Ron, Hermione, and Riley got complaints from Harry about not knowing anything (they weren't allowed to tell him anything) almost every day.

One day, I was so annoyed I had taken to writing him myself.

_Dear Harry,_

_Hey! You know, since you're like my brother now, I feel kind of bad about not writing to you before now. But at least I'm writing now!_

_How is it down at Privet Drive? I don't know why I bother asking; you've told me how horrible it is there. I'm not having too much fun either. We're not even home anymore; I can't tell you where we are. I know it's frustrating, but we've been forbidden to tell you anything, and I would just break the rules if it weren't for the fact that our letters are screened before they're sent out._

_Don't worry, Harry. As I said, I know it's frustrating for you. I understand if you hate us all for not telling you anything. But it's not any better here. At least I don't think it is. All we do is clean. We don't even know much that you don't, to be honest. We're not allowed to know. _

_Well…I have to go now, Mrs. Weasley's yelling at me to come help clean. I know for a fact that we'll be seeing each other quite soon._

_Love,_

_Abbey._

I didn't receive a letter back. Then again, I had only sent the letter out a few days previously.

I knew they were keeping an eye on Harry, and I knew Dung was the watch that night. I had felt so bad for Harry that I was planning on sneaking out – Dung would take me, I knew he would – and telling him everything I knew – which was very little.

"Why would I ever take you with me?"

"I just told you. I want to talk to Harry."

"So?"

"Obviously you don't care about the rules. Please?"

Dung sighed, checked to be sure nobody was listening, and said,

"Fine."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	45. Chapter 45

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to PenNameless1994, .uSxX, Jessica682, sweetteetwo, TrishaTonks, and HPfan4ever for the reviews! **

Chapter 45

"If you parents find out, we're both dead."

"That's why they _won't_."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Oh, come on," I exclaimed, walking down Privet Drive with Dung toward wherever Harry lived. "With an Order meeting in a few minutes, what are the odds that they'll notice?"

Dung didn't say anything and only whipped the sweat off of his brow with his left hand.

"Well, here's his house," he muttered, pointing to one of the extra-fancy houses with the number four on it. "If you want to, I often see him at a playground a few blocks south, it would probably be a good idea to go wait there. But no promises that he'll come out."

"Oh, he will," I muttered. "I'll be sure of that."

Dung didn't hear me, though, because he started off down the street toward a batty-looking woman who I knew to be a Squib named Mrs. Figg.

"Hey!" I called after him. He spun on his heels, annoyed. "Don't leave without me, alright?" He sighed.

"Fine, whatever." He turned back to Mrs. Figg as I started toward where he had directed me, where, supposedly, there was a playground Harry was always at as I saw Dung throw on a Disillusionment Charm.

I didn't really know where to go, so I decided to just walk around for a while to so if Harry was going to come out. I was just a few blocks away when I saw him arguing to Mrs. Figg and heard him Disapperate away seconds later.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked, pissed off. Mrs. Figg looked towards me, confused, but just kept walking as though nothing had happened. "Damn it, Dung," I muttered to myself. "You better watch out, because when you get back, I'm going to kill you."

I decided that my best bet was to just knock on the door and see if he was there. I doubted that the Dursley's would like it much, but it was my best bet at the moment.

I stood at the front door for a long moment before I finally knocked three times on the door. It flung open a few seconds later to show a woman who I knew to be Harry's aunt Petunia Dursley. She was just as he had explained him.

"Hello," she said in what seemed to be a stuck-up voice. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if this is where Harry Potter lives." She pursed her lips before she started to say something, but I cut her off. "My name is Abbey Black-Lupin, he stayed at my house last summer."

"Are you here to take him away?" I snorted. _I wish_, I thought, but I didn't dare say it to her face.

"No, I just…I need to speak to him."

"Well, he's not here at the moment." She went to slam the door in my face, but I stuck my hand out and held it open.

"Do you know where he might be?"

"No idea." She slammed the door.

Sighing, I started to walk aimlessly down the streets just as the sun started to set. I soon found myself on a street named Magnolia Crescent that looked almost exactly like Privet Drive.

"Hello there, beautiful," a sudden voice said from behind me. I spun around and found a group of four huge, teenagers following me. I sighed, rolled my eyes, and started to walk faster to stay away from them.

"I don't remember seeing you around here before," another one said, easily keeping up with me. "And I think I'd remember someone as…_fine_ as you."

"Yeah, what's your name, darling?" a third said.

"Like I'd tell you," I spat as I kept walking, just a little bit faster.

"Trying to outrun us is a stupid idea," the first one said. "Not only are we much larger than you, we also outnumber you four to one."

"What do you want?" I asked, coming to a stop and turning to face them. I could tell they were about Harry's age, despite the fact that they were all about ten times his size. They were obviously Muggles, and I could tell they were jerks just by looking at them.

"Well let's think…"

"Do you have a boyfriend?" the second one asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do," I said, annoyed. "Now, if you'll excuse me –"

"You're not getting away that fast." The largest of them all, the one who hadn't yet spoken, grabbed me by the shoulders roughly and pushed me up against a nearby brick wall.

"What the fuck is your problem?" I exclaimed. "Go pick on someone your own size…"

"But it's just so much funner to pick on someone smaller than us, like you…"

"Yeah?" I asked. He nodded. "Okay, I have a few things to point out. One; _funner _isn't a word. Two; not only am I much smaller than you, I'm probably younger than you, plus I'm a girl. And three; I think that just makes you a dick."

One of them, out of anger, had swung at me, but I ducked just in time for him to miss me and instead smack his hand against the brick wall. While he cradled his hand and the friend closest to him checked to see if he was alright, I tried to sneak past them, but one of the other ones grabbed me roughly yet again and pushed me back up against the wall.

"Dudley, are you alright?" one of them asked.

_Dudley_…I thought. _Why does that name sound familiar? Dudley…Dudley…_

And then it hit me.

"Dudley? That's your name?" I asked, smiling maliciously. Dudley glared at me.

"Maybe, maybe not, you little bitch."

"Oh, Dudley, I've heard of you before." They all looked at me, confused. "I know your cousin, see," I explained.

"Potter?" he sneered. I nodded, still smiling. "How do you know Potter?"

"He…he goes to my school."

Dudley's smiled faltered, but one of his friends smirked.

"You go to St. Brutus's?"

"St. Brutus's?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah," another one of them said. "St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal _Boys_?" I frowned – _that's _where they said he went? That's…stupid. But it sucked that my story was cut short by the fact that the home was for boys.

"I go to the girls version, right next door, St. Augustine's Protected Academy for Terminally Delinquent Girls," I invented quickly. They seemed to believe me, though, because Dudley started to look nervous. "Yeah, Harry and I are pretty…we're pretty tight."

"Don't tell me Potter is the boyfriend you mentioned earlier."

"No," I said, glaring at each and every boy in turn. "No, Harry's like…he's like my brother."

"Well…if you go to St. Augustine's, you must be good a fighting, then," one of them smirked. I shrugged.

"You kinda have to be to survive St. Brutus's or St. Augustine's," I said, just making stuff up as I went along. To be honest, it was quite fun.

"Come on then," another one, possibly the smallest of them, provoked. "Let's see how tough you really are."

"What, do you want me to hit you?" I asked, confused. He nodded. I made a face. "How about no? Just leave me alone."

"I don't think we can do that." I sighed, annoyed, as I decided to try to get past them again by pushing Dudley to the side – he didn't object, he understood my silent message about how I was just like Harry – but one of his friends grabbed me and shoved me back up against the wall.

"Why are you guys such dicks?"

The one who had shoved me looked about ready to punch me like his friend had tried earlier, but he knew better.

"You're lucky it's getting late," one of them snarled, "because we've all got to be home. But this isn't over – next time we see you, you can bet you won't get away so quickly." He shoved me lightly as they all walked around me and ignored me as they headed down the darkening streets of Little Winging. About fifty feet away, Dudley glanced back wearily at me. I knew he would, and made sure to be playing with my wand out in the open to freak him out when he did – and it worked.

Annoyed, I sighed as I started to walk in the opposite direction. I wasn't afraid of those boys in the least – especially not now that Dudley was terrified of me – but the fact that they were bullies and that Harry had to deal with them all summer drove me nuts.

I walked around again aimlessly before I saw the group of boys again a few minutes later in another area. Three of them were headed in one direction – Dudley in another. I hid in a dark alleyway while the three passed, and then darted out to hide behind some bushes and follow Dudley.

By the time I caught up, I could hear Dudley talking to someone.

"Not this brave at night, are you?" he sneered.

"This is night, Diddykins. That's what we call it when it goes all dark like this." Well, that was a familiar voice.

Harry.

I considered jumping out at them now, but I decided to wait. I wanted to see what Dudley was talking about.

"I mean when you're in bed!"

I heard Dudley stop in his tracks, and Harry followed suit.

"What do you mean, when I'm in bed?" Harry asked, confused. "What am I supposed to be afraid of, pillows or something?"

"I heard you last night. Talking in your sleep. Moaning."

I could see where this was going, and it wasn't good. But, for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to interrupt.

"What d'you mean?" he asked. Dudley laughed and put on a fake, high-pitched whimpering voice,

"'Don't kill Sam! Don't kill Sam!' Who's Sam – your boyfriend?"

"I – you're lying."

"Dad! Help me, Dad! He's going to kill me, Dad! Boo hoo!"

"Shut up," Harry said, his voice low, angry, and dangerous. "Shut up, Dudley, I'm warning you!"

"Come and help me, Dad! Mum, come and help me! He's killed Sam! Dad, help me! He's going to - don't you point that thing at me!" I knew what had happened without even being able to see – enraged, Harry had spun his wand on Dudley.

"Don't ever talk about that again. D'you understand me?"

It was definitely time for me to interrupt.

"Gees Harry, I thought you'd know better."

Both of the boys froze and turned to the bushes and tree behind which I was still concealed.

"Who's there?" Harry asked, obviously recognizing my voice but not daring to believe it. I kept smiling as I stepped out from behind the tree to face them. Harry had his wand pointed at me, and Dudley was just staring from one of us to the next, confused.

"Put that thing away, I'm not going to hurt you," I said, nodding to his wand. "Besides, I could take you in a duel any day." Harry laughed, stowing his wand into his back pocket.

"You wish," he said, still laughing. "Which of us fought Voldemort again?"

"You did, I know," I admitted. "But I could've gotten away _without _running, or the help of my parents." Harry smirked at me, shaking his head, but didn't say anything more. I couldn't help myself and threw my arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. He embraced me back – being like my brother, I had honestly missed him the past six weeks.

"What the hell is going on here?" Dudley blurted, reminding us of his presence. Harry and I let go of each other to turn to face him. "Is this your little girlfriend? Are you cheating on that Sam kid with her?"

"I'm not dating either of them," Harry snarled, glaring at Dudley.

"Then why do you always dream about Sam?" Dudley asked.

"I thought I told you to never talk about that again," Harry snapped, spinning his wand back onto Dudley.

"Harry," I said warningly. "Harry, don't, he's not worth it." I tried to force his hand down, but he was stronger than me and could hold his arm up despite my force.

"Point that thing somewhere else!"

"Do you understand me?"

"Harry, stop!"

"Point that somewhere else!"

"I SAID, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM –"

And that's when it happened.

Dudley gave an odd, shuddering gasp, as though he had been doused in icy water. And I understood why.

Something odd had happened – something quite familiar to me. The sky had suddenly gone pitch black – the stars, the moon, and the streetlamps had gone black. The hot air had suddenly gone piercingly cold and we were surrounded by sudden silence.

I looked around desperately but found that it was so dark I couldn't even see my hand inches from my face.

"Harry…" I muttered.

"W-what are you doing?" Dudley's terrified voice yelled. "St-stop it!"

"I'm not doing anything! Shut up and don't move!"

"I c-can't see! I've g-gone blind! I –"

"I said shut up!"

I think, at this point, Harry and I both knew what was going on. But it wasn't possible…they couldn't be here…not in Little Whinging…

"I'll t-tell Dad! W-where are you? What are you d–?"

"Dudley, shut up!" I screamed, starting to get terrified.

That's when I heard it. There was something in the alleyway apart from the three of us – I could hear it drawing long, hoarse, rattling breaths. My stomach dropped.

"C-cut it out! Stop doing it! I'll h-hit you, I swear I will!"

"Dudley, shut –!"

WHAM.

"Dudley!" I yelled. Even though I couldn't see, I knew what had just happened – Dudley had hit Harry. I heard Harry hit the ground and his wand roll out of his reach.

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" I exclaimed, pulling out my wand. I didn't even care about the "no magic underage" law. We were in a dire situation – they'd have to let us use magic. "_Lumos_!" The tip of my wand ignited, casting enough light for Harry to scramble for his wand and for us to see Dudley had started stumbling away down the alley, hitting the fence several times.

"You moron!" Harry yelled, staring at him. "DUDLEY, COME BACK, YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT AT IT!" Dudley was out of range of my wand-light – he let out a horrible yell just as I felt another chill run up my spine that came from behind me and could only mean one thing – there was more than one.

"DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!" Harry yelled, staring after Dudley.

I spun around slowly and found myself facing a towering, hooded figure gliding towards us, hovering over the ground.

I gasped again. I could hear Harry stumbling after Dudley, not having realized there was one behind us as well. I knew how to get rid of Dementors – I knew the spell, I knew how to do it, but I had never even tried. There was no way I could perform a Patronus.

But I had to try.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A tiny wisp of silver smoke flew out of my wand, but that was it. I knew why – I needed to think of a happy thought. I closed my eyes briefly and thought of a happy memory – that night with Draco on the beach when he told me he loved me.

"Expecto Patronum!" More silver vapor shot out – enough to push the Dementor back but not enough to get him to leave completely. The Dementor was back on me quickly.

A pair of grey, slimy hands reached out from inside the robes, reaching for me. I could feel it slowly sucking the happiness out of me. I could hear screaming, yelling, and shouting in the distance. Or was it all in my head? I had no idea. All I was aware of was the Dementor closing its hand around my throat.

I tried again to produce a Patronus, but there was no happiness left inside of me. I could hear my own voice screaming inside my head, "_SAM_!"

And then I heard Harry scream, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

An enormous silver stag erupted from Harry's wand several feet away. I could no longer breathe – white dots started to blur my vision. I wanted to scream for Harry to help, but I could see the blurry stag rushing toward Dudley, who was just seconds away from being kissed.

And then the Dementor suddenly let go of my throat. I dropped to my knees, gasping for breathe and rubbing my most-likely bruised throat.

The lights – moon, stars, streetlamps – had all come back. A warm breath of air blew through the trees, pushing away my Goosebumps. I sat on my knees, trembling and taking deep breaths. I could see Dudley lying curled in a ball several feet away, and Harry stood near him, staring into the dark sky.

A few tears trickled down my cheeks. Harry walked slowly over to me and knelt down beside me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into a tight embrace.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly after a moment. I nodded slowly, still breathing deeply and rubbing my throat. "I'm going to go check on Dudley, okay?" I nodded again and he went over to Dudley.

That's when I heard running footsteps coming our way. Harry heard them, too, and spun his wand on to find Mrs. Figg. I knew there wasn't a point to try to hide his wand – not like she didn't already know about magic – but he tried to anyways.

"Don't put it away, idiot boy!" she shrieked. "What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to kill Mundungus Fletcher!"

"Me too, Mrs. Figg," I muttered hoarsely. "Me too."

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	46. Chapter 46

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: I'm not even going to make excuse for my lateness. Just please, _please_, accept my sincere, heart-felt apology!**

**I'm also too lazy to go back to look to see who reviewed, so thanks to EVERYONE for the reviews!**

**Happy New Year!  
**

Chapter 46

"He left! Left to see someone about a batch of cauldrons that fell off the back of a broom! I told him I'd flay him alive if he went, and now look! Dementors! It's just lucky I put Mr. Tibbies on the case! But we haven't got time to stand around! Hurry, now, we've got to get you back! Oh, the trouble this is going to cause! I will kill him!"

"You're not alone," I muttered, still rubbing my neck. It hurt every time I took a breath, and my voice was hoarse.

"Wait…how do you know Dung?" Mrs. Figg asked, turning to me.

"How do I know Dung?" I asked, incredulous. "He brought me here! He promised not to leave without me!" Mrs. Figg seemed to understand my silent communication – Yes, I'm a witch, yes, I am…sort of…part of the Order, and yes, I know what's going on.

"But…you're – you're a witch?" Harry asked Mrs. Figg.

"I'm a Squib, as Mundungus knows full well, so how on earth was I supposed to help you fight off Dementors? He left you completely without cover when I'd warned him –"

"This Mundungus has been following me? Hang on - it was him! He Disapparated from the front of my house!"

"Can we just get out of here?" I asked sharply, looking around and shivering, half expecting the Dementors to come back. "I don't want them to come back before we're…someplace else."

"Fine, fine," Mrs. Figg muttered. "You!" she said sharply to Dudley, who was still lying on the alley ground. "Get your fat bottom off the ground, quick!"

"I don't think he can," I said. "Someone's got to help him." Harry sighed, obviously knowing he was the only one out of the three of us who would be able to help Dudley (Mrs. Figg used a cane, I'm much too small, plus I was still shaking from the attack), and leaned forward to pull Dudley to his feet.

"Keep your wand out," Mrs. Figg told Harry and I, we started walking. "Never mind the Statute of Secrecy now, there's going to be hell to pay anyway, we might as well be hanged for a dragon as an egg. Talk about the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery… this was exactly what Dumbledore was afraid…"

"What do you mean, there's going to be hell to pay?" Harry asked. "I had to use magic, I was getting rid of Dementors. Surely they're going to be more worried about the stray Dementors?"

"Harry, you don't understand," I panted. "I wish it were so, but –"

And then there it was. The sound of Apparation, and Dung appeared right in front of us.

"MUNDUNGUS FLETCHER, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Mrs. Figg screamed.

"Sup Figgy?" he asked, staring from Mrs. Figg to me and back again. "What 'appened to staying undercover?"

"There were Dementors here, you dipshit," I snapped.

"Dementors, 'ere?" Dung asked, aghast. "Blimey, I –!"

Mrs. Figg, annoyed, raised her arm and whacked her string bag against Dung's face and neck.

"Ouch – gerroff – gerroff, you mad old bat! Someone's gotta tell Dumbledore!"

"Yes – they – have!" Mrs. Figg yelled, still swinging her bag. "And – it – had – better – be – you – and – you – can – tell – him – why – you – weren't – there – to – help!"

"I'm going, I'm going!"

"Wait!" I exclaimed, just before he disappeared. "You brought me here, Dung, now take me home!" Dung sighed and grabbed my wrist roughly.

"Don't do anything rash. It'll all work out, alright? I'll see you soon, I'd wager," I said to Harry, who looked super confused, seconds before Dung spun on the spot and Disapperated. Next thing I knew, we were standing on the front steps of Grimmauld Place.

As soon as we entered, I could tell they already knew. I have no idea how they knew – Had somebody told them? If so, who? – but they did. The kids, including Sam, Fred, and George, were nowhere to be found – I assumed they had been ushered up to their rooms like always.

Nobody seemed to notice Dung and I standing in the doorway. People were running up and down the stairs, owls were flying in and out of windows that I had never seen open – a few I hadn't even known existed.

"Yes, I understand that everybody's worried about Harry being expelled!" I heard Father exclaim as he mounted the top step with Dumbledore. "But my daughter is _missing_! Does that not register in your mind?" He sounded pissed and worried at the same time.

"I'm sure your daughter is safe and sound," Dumbledore said as they came to a stop at the bottom of the next staircase. "She's probably just with Dung, wherever he might be, or even with Harry. You're too worried."

"Albus, you don't understand, you don't have any children! She's _missing! _I doubt she's with Dung –!"

"Obviously, Sirius, you don't use your eyes," Dumbledore said, noticing Dung and I standing nearby, "because your daughter is right behind you."

Father spun around quickly and, upon noticing me standing there, rushed forward and pulled me into his arms.

"Oh thank Merlin," he muttered into my hair, rubbing my back gently. After a moment he pushed me back and held me at arms length, his hands on my shoulders. "Where the hell were you? We were worried sick."

"I just…I…"

"Did you –?" he started to ask, but then he suddenly stopped, his eyes widening as they landed on my neck. I assumed there were bruises in the shape of two hands there from the Dementors. Father's eyes suddenly were wide and terrified. "Abbey…what the hell happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I assured him. That was a lie. I still had trouble breathing, it hurt to speak, and my voice was hoarse. And I knew he could tell I was lying.

"What the hell happened?" he repeated.

"I…er…I asked Dung to…er…take me to see Harry." I lowered my voice to a whisper at the last part, terrified of how he would react, and looked down at my feet.

"So where did the hands come from?" he asked, confused. I looked back up as realization dawned on his face. "No…Abbey, were you with him when the Dementors came?" I nodded slowly. He sighed just as I saw Dad come down the stairs behind him.

"Abbey?" he asked upon noticing me there. Father turned around and moved out of the way so Dad could push his way by and pull me into his arms just as Father had done.

"What happened to you? Where did you go? Are you okay?" he asked, all very quickly and sharply. He, unlike Father, didn't sound pissed at all, merely terrified. "Oh my God…I thought they had gotten you somehow…"

"Who?" I asked, pulling back.

"The Death Eaters, obviously," he replied. "I thought you had snuck out…let's be honest, it _would_ be something you would do…"

"She _did_," Father said, raising his eyebrows at me. Dad looked from me to him and back again.

"_What_?" he asked, actually starting to sound angry. He obviously hadn't noticed the bruises on my neck yet. Of course, as soon as I had thought that, he noticed them. His eyes widened and flashed from my eyes to my neck and back again. After a moment, he ran his fingers gently over the bruises, as if trying to decide if he was hallucinating or not, but pulled them away quickly when I flinched.

"Abbey," he muttered. "What the –?"

"Dung took her to see Harry," Father answered him before he could even finish. "She was there when the Dementors were…" Dad stared at me but then turned to Dung, his eyes betraying the anger he was trying to conceal.

"Why the hell would you take her there?" he snapped.

"Well, she asked nicely…"

"I highly doubt that," he said. I huffed – I _had _asked nicely. At least, I had said please. "And even if she did, she's thirteen years old, and you know she likes to cause trouble. You shouldn't have listened to her!"

"You realize you're mad at the wrong person, right?" Dung asked, sounding confused. "_She _asked _me _to take her, it's not like _I _suggested it!"

"Yes, but you listened to her!" Dad said, his voice slowly getting louder. "I should've expected that much of her! I'm sorry, Abbey, but it's true," he said, turning to me. I smiled slightly – I couldn't deny that that was true. I shrugged. "And don't worry; she'll be getting into trouble when I have the time. But you're more than three times her age, you shouldn't be listening to her every order! She could've been killed – by the looks of it, she almost was!"

"Look, Remus," Father said, calming down slightly. "We can deal with this later. Don't you think we should worry about Harry's safety – and Abbey's, too – before we deal with this? Besides, on the bright side, at least we have a witness for the Dementors now."

"Fine," Dad said, even though he still sounded angry. "Does your throat hurt?" he asked me. I shrugged.

"A little, I suppose," I said. But I was hoarse, and I knew he could tell I was lying.

"Does it hurt to talk?" I nodded. "What about breathe?" Father asked.

"Yeah…a little…" I answered honestly. He looked to Dad, who looked just as bewildered as he did.

"I honestly have no idea how to do anything that has to deal with healing," Dad muttered, shaking his head.

"Your best bet is to just leave it," Dumbledore said from the shadows, suddenly alerting us to his presence once again. "The only person who would be able to heal that is a healer, but it should slowly go away on its own." Dad and Father looked skeptical, but they decided to trust him.

"Go on up to your room, then," Dad said. "For now, at least. We need to get things sorted out with the Ministry and this whole underage magic thing, but we'll come check on you in a while, alright?" I nodded and trudged up the stairs, rubbing my neck lightly.

"Abbey?" I looked back over my shoulder near the top of the stairs to see Father looking up at me. "You're lucky we're not punishing you. It's only because you're hurt that we're not. But you better believe that if you do anything like that again, you _will _be punished, no matter how hurt you are."

"Unless I'm dead," I muttered as I started up the stairs again. I had honestly thought, for a second tonight, that I was going to die. Or at least be kissed. Thank Merlin I wasn't, though.

When I finally reached the second floor, where the bedroom Riley and I were staying in was, I was out of breath, which I found odd. I used to be able to run up and down all of the stairs with Fred and George several times before I felt like this. I assumed it was because of my tightened airways.

To my surprise, when I pushed the door open to the room, Riley wasn't the only one in it. All the kids were piled in there with her – Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Sam, Fred and George. I assumed Sam, Fred, and George had taken turns Apparating all of them into our room.

As soon as I had closed the door behind me, they all turned and stared at me, until suddenly Sam, who was closest to me, pulled me into his arms.

"Where the hell where you?" he asked after a moment, pushing me back but keeping his hands on my shoulders.

"I –"

"What the fuck is on your neck?" Fred asked, looked closely at my neck.

"What happened…?" Riley asked.

So, I recounted the story to them…again. They were all pretty mad that I didn't ask _them _to go with me…especially Ron…and Fred and George wee mad that they hadn't come up with the idea first, considering they could Apparate themselves now.

"So the Dementors tried to _choke _you?" Hermione asked. "Why didn't they try to kiss you instead?"

"Beats me," I said, shrugging.

"Why were they in Little Whinging in the first place?" Sam asked.

"I bet You-Know-Who sent them!" Ron exclaimed. "It makes sense, if you think about it."

"But the Ministry's still in charge of the Dementors," Hermione pointed out. "Unless there's something they're not telling us, which wouldn't surprise me."

"What are they doing to Harry?" Riley asked. "He used a charm not only in front of a Muggle, but underage."

"Well they can't expel him," Hermione said impatiently. "It was an emergency situation."

"But Hermione," I muttered, "He _was _expelled."

A silence followed my words. First off, they didn't seem to understand how I knew that. Second off, they didn't want to believe it. Third off, they thought it was unfair. All of this caused them to have no idea what to say following my words, until George finally muttered,

"Are you _sure_?"

"Pretty sure," I replied. "When I came in, I heard Father talking to Dumbledore about how he was worried about Harry being expelled but was more worried about finding where I was."

"But they…they can't expel him, they just can't," Hermione said. "There's provision in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations!" We all stared at her blankly.

"Hermione, just…just stop," Ron said before he turned to me. "Did you get to tell him anything?"

"I wanted to, but then he started getting pissed off at his cousin, and then the Dementors showed up," I said, shrugging. "Not like I know much more than he does, though."

"At least you aren't locked away, alone, with only people that hate you for company," Riley pointed out.

"Come on, let's see what's going on downstairs," Fred said suddenly, pulling out what seemed to be two ears with a long string attaching them together, but what I knew as Extendable Ears. The twins invented them.

George took one of the ears, pulled the door open slightly and threw it into the hallway. After closing the door, he pulled out his wand, pointed it at the string, and walked away. I knew what he had done without asking – he had used a spell to send the ear down the stairs toward the formal dining room in the basement, where the Order of the Phoenix meetings were always held.

We all crowded around the ear that Fred was still holding, and after a few seconds Dad's voice floated out of it.

"They just won't listen," he said. "Albus can't convince them to budge at all, and you all know how influential he is. If he can't convince them, nobody can."

"But Albus is headmaster of Hogwarts," said a young witch named Tonks (yes, the very one that sat in on Father telling the truth to the Minister just over a year ago). "Shouldn't he be the one that decides who is and who isn't expelled from his school? Or shouldn't he at least get a say in it?"

"The Ministry doesn't care," Kingsley Shacklebolt, another one of the Aurors who had showed up with the Minister that day, pointed out. "They want any excuse they can find to get Harry out of the picture, and expelling him for underage magic would be the perfect way to do that."

Suddenly, we heard what sounded like the door to the room being opened and Dumbledore's voice said,

"I think I might have finally been able to get them to at least give him a Hearing instead of expelling him straight away, but it's going to be difficult to sway them during the Hearing since Dudley and Mrs. Figg can't see the Dementors."

"But Abbey was there," Mr. Weasley pointed out. "She could testify."

"Yes, and she will, but because of the fact that she's so close to Harry they will think that, if Harry is, in fact, making it all up, he just asked her to go along with it and that she agreed," Father said.

"Mrs. Figg could testify," Mad-Eye suggested – yes, this was the _real _Mad-Eye. I had had a few extensive conversations with him about the old Order and what Crouch had done while impersonating him. I must say, Mad-Eye's a very…_interesting_ wizard. "You don't have to _see _a Dementor to know that they're there. You can feel them."

"Wait a minute – what is that that Crookshanks is playing with?" Mrs. Weasley asked suddenly. We all knew the answer – the Extendable Ear. That damn cat had a habit of playing with them. Mrs. Weasley was on the verge of finding out about them, and we were determined not to let that happen.

Fred and Sam, realizing that she saw it, quickly starting grabbed Ginny and Hermione and Apparated them back to their room while George cast a quick spell on the ear to get it to come up quickly before taking Ron to his. Soon enough, only Riley and I were left in the room.

Almost as soon as George had left with Ron, the door to the bedroom creaked open and Mrs. Weasley poked her head in.

"Hello girls," she said kindly. "You haven't seen Fred or George, have you?"

"No Mrs. Weasley," I lied quickly before Riley could. She was horrible at lying. "I haven't seen them since I got back." She huffed and pulled the door shut loudly behind her.

"When do you suppose they'll bring Harry here finally?" I asked Riley after a moment of silence.

"Soon," she answered quietly. "At least, I hope."

**A/N: Ehhh. I don't really like this chapter, but it's okay, I suppose. When I get them back to Hogwarts it'll get good again…or it should, at least. Once again, I apologize for how late this was!**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	47. Chapter 47

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to Jessica682 and Mrs. Alana Sparrow for the reviews!**

**Well that didn't take as long, did it? I don't really remember how long it took last time. I'm trying to keep up, I am, but this time of year I get sooooo busy, and I apologize ahead of time for any obnoxiously slow updates. I still love you all, though, don't worry!**

Chapter 47

The next few days seemed to go in a blur. Really, nothing happened except that Mrs. Weasley found out about the Extendable Ears. Let's just say we got an earful that day – Father said he thought they were brilliant, but then he was reprimanded by Mrs. Weasley as well.

I hadn't spoken to Draco in a while. We'd still use our magic parchments every now and again, but recently we had just had short conversations because we were so busy around the house, cleaning it up and making it not so…nasty. Since he wasn't supposed to know that we weren't at home, I had to just tell him that Father and Dad were being really strict with who we talked to anymore and that they had almost found the parchment several times.

In actuality, they still had no idea what it was or that it even existed.

The last time we had used the Extendable Ears, just before we were caught two days previously, we heard that Dad, Tonks, Mad-Eye, Kingsley, and a few others were planning on getting Harry from Privet Drive soon, but we were caught before we heard just when he was coming back.

Later the day after I had come back, Hedwig arrived with four short letters from Harry, all saying the same exact thing, one addressed to Father and Dad, one to Riley, one to Ron, and one to Hermione. I didn't get to read the whole thing, but the one to Riley said something about him demanding answers. After that, Hedwig refused to leave and every now and then would go to one of the five and peck at their fingers, willing them to write back.

"I _can't_, Hedwig, they won't let me!" Riley exclaimed one night. "I'm sorry!" 

Finally, four days after she arrived, while I was sitting in Hermione and Ginny's room with Riley, Hermione, and Ron, I got annoyed, took a piece of paper, and started to write back when Hermione made me throw it away and promise not to try again.

"You'll get caught and we'll _all _get in trouble!" she said, ripping the paper from my hands.

"You know what?" I said angrily back. "I feel like I'm the only person here who gives a shit about Harry right now! You don't understand how much it must be killing him to be locked up after being attacked, expelled, and now alone!"

"We all care about Harry even more than you do," Riley snarled, taking Hermione's side. "We just don't break the rules like you do! We all understand that telling him anything at all will make him want to know more and just drive him even _more _crazy!"

"Besides," Hermione said, "we all know that they're going to get him soon."

Annoyed, I huffed and shoved past Ron and out the door, deciding to go upstairs to visit with Sam, Fred, and George. I got along with them all better than the others – except maybe Ron, he didn't usually do anything to annoy me, he hadn't even agreed with Riley and Hermione, which probably meant that he agreed with me, at least on that subject.

As I passed the Drawing Room, I glanced inside and happened to see Father standing there staring at the Black family tapestry. I paused and watched him, but he didn't seem to move an inch. I hadn't even glanced at the tapestry while I was there, since I had seen the Black Family Tree before.

I hesitated a moment before slowly walking forward toward Father. The floor creaked beneath my feet and Father turned around sharply to face me.

"Oh, hey Abbey," he said, sighing. "You scared me."

"What're you doing in here alone?" I asked, stopping beside him. He shrugged, turning back to the tapestry.

"I just happened to pass by and decided to take a look." He pointed to a spot where there was a burn mark. "That's where I used to be. Mother burned me off when I ran away at sixteen to live with James. That's why you and Remus, Riley, and Sam aren't on here," he explained.

"How come you've never mentioned that you had a younger brother?" I asked suddenly. Father shrugged.

"Never thought to bring it up."

"What happened to him?" I asked after a moment.

"He, er…well, he got in a little too deep with the Death Eaters," he explained.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well…he became a Death Eater at only sixteen –"

"Voldemort lets you join when you're only sixteen?" I asked, shocked. Father nodded.

"Yeah, I know, he might not be stupid, but he _is _a fool," he replied. "Anyways, Regulus joined when he was only sixteen. He didn't know what he was getting into. From what I hear, he got in so far and then got cold feet, tried to back out, and Voldemort ordered somebody to kill him."

I stared at the picture of him on the tapestry. He looked almost exactly like Father and Sam. Just not quite as handsome.

"Were your parents Death Eaters too?" I asked, now looking at his parents photos.

"No, no," he replied. "They thought Voldemort had the right idea, though. But they got cold feet when they saw just what he was prepared to do to get to power." I realized that his parents were third cousins – ironically, Draco and I were third cousins as well.

"Do you miss him?" I asked quietly after a moment. "Regulus…do you miss him?"

Father didn't answer for several moments. I glanced at him and noticed that he was staring at Uncle Regulus' photo on the tapestry. Something stirred deep in his eyes for a moment before it disappeared and his blank stare returned.

Finally, after several moments, he nodded slowly.

"There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think there was something I could've or should've done to protect him."

"But you were in Azkaban…you couldn't have helped him," I said. He shook his head and pointed at Regulus' date of death.

"He died fifteen years ago…I was put into Azkaban fourteen years ago. I feel like I…I let him down somehow. It's true we didn't get along, we didn't see eye-to-eye, but I didn't want him dead. It's like the Weasleys and Percy. He may have ditched them, but they still love him and want the best for him. And if he was killed, they'd be…devastated."

"It's not your fault," I said soothingly. "There's nothing you could've done to keep it from happening." He paused before looking down at me.

"Surely there was…_something _I could've done, though, don't you think?" I shrugged.

"Maybe. But it's the past, you can't change it now."

"I know…I just…I wish I could." I sighed, looking back at my uncle Regulus' photo. I knew that, even if I wasn't as close as I was to Riley and Sam as I was, I would blame myself if they were killed no matter what, and I would miss them like hell.

After a moment I wrapped my arms around Father's waist, trying to comfort him in any way possible. At least in a way, I knew what it felt like to loose a sibling. I remember how I had felt when I thought Sam was dead.

At first, Father merely stood there, seeming to be in shock, before he embraced me back, resting his chin on the top of my head.

"Hey, Sirius –"

Leave it to Ron to ruin the moment.

"Oh, sorry," he said as soon as he realized that he was interrupting a personal moment. "But, er, Mother's looking for you. She said it's important" Father stepped back.

"It's fine, Ron, thanks," he said. "I'll see you in a bit, Abbey."

"Bye," I muttered as he headed out past Ron, who merely stood there and watched me for a moment before I shoved him out of the way, for the second time, muttering, "What're you staring at?" as I passed before heading up the stairs. But as I started up them, Ron called my name. I turned to face him.

"What?" I asked, my annoyance clear in my voice.

"I agree with you, y'know," he said lamely.

"Agree with me on what?" I asked, even though I thought I knew the answer.

"That we should try to somehow contact Harry, tell him what's going on. But Hermione and Riley have a point – if we got caught, we'd be in so much trouble. More so than we already are for eavesdropping. Not to mention, a Death Eater could intercept it and find out everything." He paused. "But yeah, I agree with you."

"Yeah, I know you do," I replied quietly. "I could tell." He smiled slightly as I headed up the stairs again.

Even though the room Fred and George were staying in was on the third floor, something made me stop at the bottom of the stairs to the fourth floor. Only two rooms were on that floor – Father's room as a kid, where he and Dad were now staying, and my uncle Regulus' room. I had seen the room before, but had never bothered to go inside. But now, staring up the stairs, I decided to go do some snooping.

I was quiet on my way up. Father had told us that we shouldn't go in there – Mrs. Weasley had actually forbidden it. But when did I ever follow the rules?

There was a neat sign above some scratches in the paintwork on the door.

Do Not Enter

Without the Express Permission of

Regulus Arcturus Black

The sign almost made me feel bad for going in without permission, but obviously there was no way I could get permission, so I merely pushed the door open quietly.

To my surprise, dust didn't immediately fall down on me, which could only mean one thing – somebody (or some_thing_) had been in there, and quite recently. I could only think of two people who would've been in there – Father or Kreacher.

I shut the door lightly behind me, flicking on the light switch as I did so.

I had to blink several times before I could take in my surroundings. Though the room was covered in soot and dust, I could tell that somebody had been in here lately. It was nowhere near as bad as the rest of the house had been when we had first moved there.

Through the dust and grime, I could still see a bit of the room's former grandeur. I could also tell that Father and Uncle Regulus were as opposite as could be. While Father's room had been covered in anything and everything that could emphasize his opposition to his family, Uncle Regulus had covered his in Slytherin colors – everything from the bed to the windows and walls were covered in green and silver. The Black Family crest and motto had been painted over the bed, beneath which a ton of newspaper articles about Voldemort had been glued.

A picture frame on the dresser caught my attention. It was of a Hogwarts Quidditch team, each with the silver serpents on their chest. I knew which one was Uncle Regulus, and I noticed that he was sitting right where Draco sat in his photo, which meant he played Seeker.

I couldn't help but wonder where he would be now had he not been murdered. Would he have a wife? Kids? Would he be in Azkaban for being a Death Eater? Or maybe backed out and became an Auror like his brother? The possiblities were endless.

It seemed a bit harsh to me, a boy of only seventeen or eighteen, being murdered because he got into something just a little too far. He probably had so many dreams ahead of him – so many friends left behind, maybe even a girlfriend…I bet Voldemort didn't even give him a chance…

I was startled when I heard the door suddenly get pushed open – so startled that I dropped the frame to the floor, where the glass shattered.

I spun on my heels, thinking that it was Mrs. Weasley and that I was busted, but I was startled to find that it was only Kreacher.

When he saw me there and took in what I had done to the frame, his eyes widened even more than they had been before. At first, I expected him to start yelling at me, but when he started muttering to himself as he walked toward me I sighed in relief that he wasn't.

"The mistress's granddaughter breaking her son's stuff…oh, how my mistress would hate all these half-breeds as her grandchildren –"

"Hey, I'm not a half-breed," I said, indignant. Kreacher looked up at me before looking back down at his feet and picking up the frame.

"The potion child is trying to talk to Kreacher, but Kreacher has nothing to say to the little brat –" He magically fixed the frame and put it back where it had been before as I exclaimed,

"Kreacher! How am I a half-breed?" He was silent. "Answer me Kreacher," I ordered, knowing he would have to follow my orders.

"One of your father's is a werewolf, isn't he? That makes you a half-breed." He looked back down as he muttered to himself, "Oh, if my mistress knew of the horrors in her house – Mudbloods and blood traitors and werewolves and half-breeds…"

He started for the door when I suddenly decided to ask,

"Kreacher, do you know what happened to Uncle Regulus?" Kreacher stopped suddenly before he turned slowly to face me.

"The half-breed wants Kreacher to tell her what happened to master Regulus, but Kreacher does not want to –"

"So you do know?" I asked. He said nothing. "Answer me. Do you know?" Kreacher nodded.

"Yes, Kreacher knows," he said hoarsely. "Kreacher was _there_. But Master Regulus forbade Kreacher from telling anybody –"

"But if he's dead, you can tell now, can't you?" I asked. I don't know why I cared so much – I suppose I'm just nosey, everybody always tells me I am anyways. I was just curious – I mean, he would be only uncle.

"Kreacher supposes…"

"I'm not going to force you to tell," I said quickly. While I wanted to know, and I didn't really like Kreacher, I didn't believe in forcing house-elves to do stupid things like that. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it, ever, but…I'd like to know."

Kreacher remained silent. Annoyed and disappointed, though understanding, I said, "Alright, thanks anyways. I'll just leave." As I turned to walk to the door, I muttered to myself, "It was a long shot anyways."

It was when I had my hand inches from the doorknob that I heard Kreacher say quietly,

"It started a year after Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord." I stopped and turned slowly to face him. His back was turned to me and his voice was lowered. At first I wasn't sure if he had meant for me to hear him, but I decided to listen anyways. "He came down to Kreacher in the kitchen and said that the Dark Lord required an elf, and that Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher."

I didn't like where this was going, but I didn't say anything and let Kreacher continue while I muddled in my confusion and apprehension.

"Master Regulus said it was an honor, for Master Regulus and Kreacher, to do as the Dark Lord asked and then to…to come h-home." He was already starting to get worked up, I could tell. This wasn't going to be good.

"So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were to do, but took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea." I narrowed my eyebrows. What did Voldemort want with a cave?

"And beyond the cave was a cavern, and in the cavern was a great black lake There was a boat…and an island…There was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it."

"What was it?" I asked. Kreacher turned to face me finally, his eyes wide with horror from the memory and shock at having found me there. Surprisingly, he didn't yell at me, but just continued.

"Kreacher doesn't know…but it made him see terrible things. His insides burned…He cried for Master Regulus, for Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed. He made Kreacher drink the whole thing, dropped a locket in, and filled it with more potion. Then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher alone on the island…"

"How did you get out?" I asked. Kreacher looked confused.

"Kreacher Apparated. Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back, he had to…"

_Of course, _I thought. _He can't disobey his master._

"Well what happened when you told Uncle Regulus what had happened at the lake? What did he do, or say?"

"Master Regulus was very worried. He told Kreacher to stay hidden…then, a little while later, he came to Kreacher, and he was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell … and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord."

"And he made you drink the potion again?" I asked, disgusted, feeling slightly sick to my stomach. What kind of person had my Uncle Regulus been?

But Kreacher shook his head, tears falling out of his eyes quickly. I don't know how long he had been crying, I was too entranced by his story.

"M-Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had. And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets. And he order – Kreacher to leave – without him, and never to tell my Mistress what he had done…."

That's when I understood.

Uncle Regulus had drank the potion, and he had never left the cave…

"Kreacher, what was in the lake?" I asked quietly, interrupting him. Kreacher paused for a long moment, sniffing several times, before saying thickly,

"Inferi."

Now I was _really _sick to my stomach. I felt like I was going to throw up. I knew what Inferi were – dead bodies enchanted to be almost alive again. Although not exactly _alive_…

I felt a single tear slide down my cheek. I felt terrible about having thought such horrible thoughts about Uncle Regulus before, now that I knew he had actually died trying to bring Voldemort down by getting rid of that locket…whatever the locket was…

"And Master Regulus told Kreacher – to destroy – the first locket," Kreacher continued, even though I wasn't really listening anymore. "And he drank – all the potion – and Kreacher swapped the lockets – and watched … as Master Regulus … was dragged beneath the water … and …"

"Did you…did you destroy it?" I asked. Kreacher shook his head, sobbing now.

"Kreacher tried and tried, but he could not destroy the locket…"

"Is it here? What is it, exactly?"

"It's here, Kreacher still has it," he said. "Kreacher doesn't know what it is. Only that Master Regulus wanted it destroyed…and Kreacher failed him…"

I knew what was coming.

"No, Kreacher, stop!" I ordered before he could start beating himself. He stopped halfway through grabbing a nearby textbook and held it in midair. "Put the book down." He dropped it. "Can you give me the locket? I can give it to Dumbledore, tell him the story…I'm sure he can destroy it…"

"No!" Kreacher exclaimed suddenly. "Nobody can know! Kreacher wasn't even supposed to tell the little half-breed!"

"Okay, okay, fine," I said quickly, holding my hands up in a surrender position. "I won't tell anybody! But can I at least have the locket? I might be able to find out what it is and destroy it." He looked hesitant. "Look, Kreacher, Uncle Regulus and I…we're on the same side here. All we want to do is destroy Vol…the Dark Lord. You can trust me, I promise."

Kreacher, still looking hesitant, opened a nearby drawer and pulled out a heavy gold locket with a green Slytherin serpent on the front. I held out my hand, and he hesitated.

"It must be destroyed," he said.

"I promise," I said, hoping to death that I would be able to keep that promise. Kreacher looked up at me and dropped the locket into my hand.

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	48. Chapter 48

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: I'm still too lazy to go back to look to see who reviewed, so thanks to EVERYONE for the reviews!**

**Pleeease bear with me through this lag, I still love you all dearly!**

Chapter 48

I stared at the locket blankly.

There seemed to be no way to open it. I had spent the past day trying to. I even tried to pry it with a knife, but all I got was a huge scratch on my knuckle that Father had to fix.

"What were you doing with a knife anyways?" he had asked, rubbing the spot where I had gotten cut gently. For a brief second, I considered telling him, but then I decided against it and just shook my head.

"Nothing," I muttered, using my free hand to stuff the locket into my pocket. Father raised his eyebrows at me, still rubbing my hand gently.

"Obviously you were doing _something_," he said. "Or you would not be holding a knife."

"I was just…uh…I was just trying to open this." I pulled out the locket and showed it to him. He dropped my hand and took it.

"What are you doing with this?" I shrugged, deciding to lie.

"I just found it and wondered what was in it." Father seemed a little skeptical but just shook his head slightly and took his turn in trying to pry it open. To no avail. "I say you just throw it out," he said after a moment, handing it back to me. "It's worthless." I took it from him, but said nothing as I headed upstairs to the room Riley and I shared.

And there I was, sitting at the desk staring at the locket blankly, with no ideas of what to do with it. I had yet to try to destroy it, but first I wanted to know what was inside of it. Maybe opening it wasn't worth it – knowing my luck I would spend years trying to open it, only to find that it was empty.

I still wasn't sure why, exactly, the locket had to be destroyed. If it was something that Voldemort wanted protected, which it was, it obviously needed to be destroyed. But why? Why was he protecting it, and why did it need destroyed?

I thought I heard someone talking from the floor below, where Ron and Sam were staying, but I didn't think twice about it. Riley, Ron, and Hermione were the only three down there and I knew there was an Order meeting so they would know they had to be quiet.

But then I heard it again. And I realized that if I listened real hard, I could make out that it was a voice. A familiar voice.

Harry's.

And if I listened well enough, I could just make out what he was yelling at the three.

"– BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR –" There was a mumbling that sounded quite like Hermione. I thought I heard Harry say something else loudly, but I couldn't make out quite what it was. I tried listening even harder to hear what was being said, but to no avail.

I wanted to sneak out and go downstairs to see him, but I knew the instant I stepped onto any of those creaky stairs I would be caught. Sometimes Mrs. Weasley didn't mind if we traveled between rooms, but since she had caught us with Extendable Ears she would probably freak.

"What's all the ruckus?"

I looked up from locket to the portrait of one of my ancestors, Phineas Nigellus Black standing irritably in his portrait. He had, at one point, been Headmaster of Hogwarts, and usually resided in that portrait. But sometimes, he would come and visit Riley and I, tell us pointless stuff or try to convince us of something stupid.

"I'm not sure," I muttered, shrugging. Phineas sighed, looking at the locket briefly before and walking out of his portrait.

I rolled my eyes. He annoyed me so much. Everything he said and did made me want to take down his portrait and send it up in flames.

I heard three cracks below me and knew that Sam and the twins had heard Harry as well and had Apparated down to see him. I wouldn't be surprised if Mrs. Weasley had heard it and was on her way upstairs to investigate what was going on now.

I sighed, still staring at the locket, when suddenly I heard the door opened and Ginny poked her head in.

"Hey, want to sneak down to see Harry with me?" I hesitated for a second before I shrugged, stuffed the locket away and followed her out the door.

When we got a floor down, she stopped.

"Hang on, let's see if Mum's put up an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door." I followed her down another flight of stairs, confused.

"How do you know if she has or not?" I asked quietly and hoarsely.

"Tonks told me that if you just chuck stuff at the door and it can't make contact with it the door has one on it." She pulled a pile of Dungbombs out of her hand, aimed one at the kitchen door, and threw it.

Even though it was well aimed, the Dungbomb flew away from the door.

"Let me try," I whispered. I took a few from her and we spent about two minutes trying to hit the door to no avail. "Damn, that sucks," I said as we headed back up the stairs to the room Ron, Sam, and now Harry were sharing.

"Oh, hello Harry!" Ginny said as she pushed the door open. "I thought I heard your voice." I stared at her, confused – a second ago she was sure it was Harry, and now she was acting as though she was surprised he was here. I merely smiled at Harry as I closed the door behind me and Ginny turned to the twins.

"It's a no-go with the Extendable Ears, she's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door."

"How do you know?" George asked.

"Tonks told me how to find out. You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed. Abbey and I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap."

"Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's up to," Fred said, sighing deeply.

"Snape! Is he here?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Yeah," I replied, sitting on one of the beds. Fred, George, Sam, and Ginny followed suit. "Giving a report. Top secret."

"Git," Fred muttered.

"He's on our side now," Hermione said reproachfully.

"Doesn't stop him being a git," Ron said, snorting. "They way he looks at us when he sees us."

"Bill doesn't like him, either," Ginny pointed out.

"Is Bill here?" Harry asked. "I thought he was working in Egypt?"

"He applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order," George answered.

"He says he misses the tombs, but;" Fred smirked, "there are compensations."

"What d'you mean?"

"Remember old Fleur Delacour?" George asked. "She's got a job at Gringotts to eempwve 'er Eeenglish –"

"And Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons," Fred finished, sniggering.

"Charlie's in the Order, too," Sam continued, "but he's still in Romania. Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off."

"Couldn't Percy do that?" Harry asked.

We all stopped and exchanged darkly significant looks.

Percy had gotten into a huge argument with Mr. Weasley. Even though I had lived with them both for many years, I had never seen either one – especially Mr. Weasley – so angry before.

It had happened the first week after we had gotten back for break. Percy had been promoted to a really high position for somebody in their first year out of Hogwarts – Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected his dad to be proud, but he wasn't. Mr. Weasley has a feeling that they're cracking down on anybody who has contact with Dumbledore, and it's a known fact Mr. Weasley is friends with Dumbledore.

In other words, Mr. Weasley thinks Percy was promoted only so Fudge could spy on him and his family.

Percy went completely berserk. He said he's had to struggle against Mr. Weasley's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry. He said Mr. Weasley was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Mr. Weasley was going to go down with him, and that he knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry. And he packed his bags the same night and left.

Not only that, but he takes the prophet seriously – he thinks Harry's lying about Voldemort and that Father really is a criminal.

As everybody started to explain this all to Harry, I realized that my throat was starting to hurt again. I rubbed it gently.

The bruising hadn't gotten any better in the past days. If anything, it had gotten worse – it had changed colors a few times, from blue to purple and now almost completely black. I'm not going to lie, I was very self conscious about it, but I knew that nobody here would judge me.

The thing was, I had to go to Harry's hearing in a few days and I knew they wouldn't be gone by then. Maybe I could find a turtleneck to wear, even though I knew I didn't own any. Maybe Ginny or Hermione or Riley did.

I wondered if Dumbledore knew what he was talking about when he said it would go away. My throat was hurting more now than before, both on the outside and inside, the bruises worse than ever, and my voice even more hoarse.

The funniest part about it was that nobody had seemed to notice.

I was drawn back into the conversation when I heard my name in the conversation. They were talking about the Hearing and how they couldn't convict Harry, especially since I had been there and would be going to testify.

But before anybody could say much more, Fred and George became silent. And I knew why – I could hear footsteps on the stairs.

"Mum's coming," Fred whispered suddenly while Sam grabbing my hand. "Ginny, you're allowed to be here, right?" Ginny nodded – once meetings started, we weren't supposed to leave the room we were in, so Ginny must've been here when it started. Obviously, I hadn't been, and Sam Apparated me back to my room. But before he went back to Fred and George's room, he stopped.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded but didn't say anything. "You've been…quiet lately." Rather than speaking, since it hurt to do so, I merely rubbed my neck gently. Sam furrowed his eyebrows. "Your neck?" I nodded. "Can you speak?"

"It hurts to," I said. Even though I had whispered it, my voice still sounded hoarse. Sam was on the verge of saying something back when there were more footsteps and he had to Apparate back to his room.

Mrs. Weasley poked her head in the room not seconds later and told me that the meeting was over and I could come down for dinner. I followed her slowly out of the door and went down to the kitchen, where I sat down quietly, near Mr. Weasley and Bill, who were still discussing the meeting. But when they noticed me, they quickly stopped. I knew Mrs. Weasley was getting Harry and them when suddenly –

CRASH.

"Tonks!" I heard Mrs. Weasley cry in exasperation. I knew what it meant – Tonks had a bit of a habit of tripping over the umbrella stand. But that wasn't what was worrisome – it was the sudden screeching of the portrait of a woman in the hallways.

Mrs. Black, my grandmother.

Father had tried to remove the portrait, but it had proved near impossible. So whenever she would start screaming at us all, things such as she was now ("Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, be gone from this place!"), somebody had to yank the curtain back around her to get her to shut up.

Harry entered the room and Mr. Weasley and Bill stood up and greeted him. I wasn't trying to be nosy, but when the flash of light a charm Mrs. Weasley used caused me to be able to see the map plan of a building on a piece of parchment, I couldn't help but reach for it.

Mrs. Weasley snatched it up before I could grab it and handed it to Bill.

"You know better than that, Abigail," she said, annoyed. "This sort of thing should be cleared up promptly after the meeting is over." I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything as she made nearly everybody help cook dinner or help set the table. When I didn't even complain a bit, she knew I wasn't feeling too well, and didn't make me help, leaving me with Father, Harry, and Dung at the table.

I ignored the entire conversation between the three – or between Father and Harry, as Dung hardly said anything – so it was a shock when suddenly I heard somebody scream,

"Fred – George – NO, JUST CARRY THEM!"

The four of us spun around and just in time – Fred and George had bewitched a cauldron full of stew, a flagon of Butterbeer, and a breadboard, complete with a knife, to hurtle through the air towards us. I felt Father grab the back of my chair and yank it back, even though I had planned on doing so as well, as the knife landed exactly where Father's hand had been seconds before.

"THERE WAS NO NEED - I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS - JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!" Mrs. Weasley screamed. "YOU ALMOST TOOK OFF ABBEY'S HEAD! AND SIRIUS'S HAND WAS JUST THERE!"

"We were just trying to save a bit of time!" Fred exclaimed. "Sorry, Sirius, mate, didn't mean to –"

Father and Harry were laughing hysterically, I was giggling slightly, Dung was cursing, and Mrs. Weasley was still reprimanding Fred and George.

When we finally got around to starting dinner, I took part in Tonks' usual transformation of her nose with Riley, Ginny, and Hermione. But instead of suggesting my favorites, I merely watched, laughing along with them.

When everybody had finished eating, we sat around in quiet for a bit before Mrs. Weasley said,

"Nearly time for bed, I think."

"Not just yet, Molly," Father said, turning to Harry. "You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort." Everybody in the room suddenly went from relaxed to tense and alert.

"I did!" Harry said. "I asked Ron and Hermione and Riley, but they said that we're not allowed in the Order, so –"

"And they're quite right," Mrs. Weasley said. "You're too young."

But Father must've decided that he was going to defend Harry and let him ask questions, even if Mrs. Weasley didn't approve. But she wasn't backing down that easy.

"He's not your son," Father pointed out.

"He's as good as," Mrs. Weasley said. "Who else has he got?"

"He's got me!" Father exclaimed. "And –!"

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley said, "the thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?" That was a low blow. It wasn't _his _fault Wormtail had blew up the street.

Father stood up, his nostrils flaring.

"Molly, you're not the only person here to cares about Harry," Dad said suddenly and impatiently, joining the conversation. "Sirius, sit down."

They decided they were going to allow Harry to stay, but when Mrs. Weasley tried to get Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Sam, Riley, and I to leave, there was an instant uproar.

"We're of age!" Fred, George, and Sam all yelled together.

"If Harry can hear, why can't I?" Ron asked.

"Harry's just going to tell us anyways," Riley pointed out.

"Mum, I want to hear!" Ginny wailed.

"Seriously though," I said suddenly. Everybody stopped what they were doing – I hadn't spoken all night, and if I was now speaking they all wanted to hear what I had to say. "If you tell Harry, he'll tell Ron and Hermione and Riley, and it will make its way around to everybody in this room. So you might as well let us stay."

Mrs. Weasley wasn't buying it. She agreed with letting everybody stay except Ginny and I. The twins and Sam were legal adults, and Hermione, Ron, and Riley were the same age as Harry, but Ginny and I were too young.

"They'll just tell us anyway!" Ginny exclaimed.

"You're too young, you don't need to –!" Mrs. Weasley started, but Father interjected.

"I think Abbey should stay." I looked at him, a little shocked. He was honestly thinking of letting me stay? But Dad didn't seem to have any objections – actually, he seemed to agree with Father.

"She's only thirteen!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked. "You can't honestly think she should hear this."

"Maybe that's so, but she's a part of this whether she wants to be or not, she was born into it, just as all the other children here were, so she should be allowed to hear this. And I honestly think they should too."

"You obviously don't know one bit about deciding what's best for her –"

"Maybe not, but she's _my_ daughter, not _yours, _and Remus agrees, so she stays."

"She might as well be my daughter!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. "I practically raised her as mine! And it seems you're not very great of a father anyways. You missed the first eleven years of her life, and now you hardly ever speak to her, and you think you suddenly know what's best for her?"

Father frowned, looking nothing short of pissed. But I could see in his eyes when he looked at me again that he was hurt as well – obviously he was wondering if that was true. Personally, I thought he was a _great _father.

"Molly," Mr. Weasley said quietly. "Let it go. Even if Sirius doesn't, Remus knows what he's doing." He hesitated. "And honestly, if they're all just going to tell her anyways, you may as well let Ginny stay." Mrs. Weasley was silent for a long moment, glaring at her husband, before she huffed and sat back down.

"Fine. Fine! But when it goes too far, it _stops_."

I couldn't believe my luck. Somebody had actually convinced Mrs. Weasley to let me stay? That was new. I suppose she couldn't really say no, it's not like she's my mum. She had no say in the matter.

"Alright, Harry, what do you want to know?"

**A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.**


	49. Chapter 49

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to Jessica682, nartyteek, and sweetteetwo for the reviews! **

Chapter 49

"Alright, Harry, what do you want to know?"

Harry didn't seem to even take a breath before he asked, "Where's Voldemort? What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news, and there hasn't been anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or anything."

I wasn't really interested in this part. I knew enough to know – or was smart enough to figure out – that Voldemort didn't want to kill anybody because he didn't want to draw attention to himself. If Harry though about it, he could probably figure that much out – if not, then he's much more dim than I thought he was.

I tuned back in just in time to hear Harry ask,

"So, what's the Order been doing?"

"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans," Father replied simply. I looked closely at him, wondering what Voldemort's plans were. For the first time yet, Harry actually asked a decent question – exactly what I had been wondering.

"Dumbledore has a shrewd idea," Dad said, "and Dumbledore's shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate."

"So what does Dumbledore reckon he's planning?"

"Well, firstly, he wants to build up his army again," Father said. "In the old days he had huge numbers at his command: witches and wizards he'd bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well, they'll be just one of the groups he's after. He's certainly not going to try and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters."

They went on to explain how they had to simply convince others that Voldemort really is back to put them on their guard, to keep him from gaining more followers, but how it was difficult since the Ministry was denying and they merely didn't want to believe it.

I could've figured that out myself, too – actually, I had overheard them talking about that with the twins once with the Extendable Ears. They explained how Fudge, the Minister of Magic, hated Dumbledore because he believed Dumbledore was out to get his job when he obviously wasn't.

"But if Voldemort's trying to recruit more Death Eaters it's bound to get out that he's come back, isn't it?" Harry asked while they were discussing how difficult it was to get people to believe them.

"Voldemort doesn't march up to people's houses and bang on their front doors, Harry," Father said. "He tricks, jinxes and blackmails them. He's well-practiced at operating in secret. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he's interested in. He's got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed, and he's concentrating on those for the moment."

"What else's he after?" Harry asked. I saw Father and Dad exchange a very brief look, so quick I thought I had made it up, but by the looks on their faces afterward I knew I hadn't.

"Stuff he can only get by stealth." When Harry, and everybody else who didn't already know, continued to look confused, Father explained. "Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time."

"Like what kind of weapon? Something worse than the Avada Kedavra –?"

"That's enough!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed suddenly, ending all the _fun _we were having. "I want you in bed. All of you," she added, looking at even Sam, Riley, and I.

"You're not my mum," I snapped at the same time Fred said,

"You can't boss us –"

"Watch me," Mrs. Weasley said, glaring more at me than she was even at Father, who she turned to next. "You've given Harry plenty of information. Any more and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway."

"Why not?" Harry asked. "I'll join, I want to join, I want to fight."

"No."

To not only my surprise but nearly everybody else's as well, it wasn't Mrs. Weasley who spoke, but Dad instead.

"The Order is comprised only of overage wizards," he said. "Wizards who have left school," he added, as Fred and George opened their mouths. "There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you… I think Molly's right, Sirius. We've said enough."

The battle was lost, Mrs. Weasley was forcing us up the stairs to bed. Even Riley and Sam and I, even with both of them begging to stay, were forced up by a woman who's not even our own mother.

Riley and I had only been in our room for a few minutes when Sam Apparated in.

"Hey," he said, sliding into the bed beside me and letting me rest my head on his chest. "What do you think?" he asked Riley and I after a moment.

"I don't know. I mean, they didn't really tell us anything that we couldn't have figured out or didn't already know," Riley said, voicing my own thoughts too.

"The weapon was new, though," Sam pointed out. "What do you think it is?"

"Could be anything," Riley replied, and I could see her shrug slightly through the dark. "What's worse than the Avada Kedavra, though? What's worse than death?"

"Lots of things," I whispered. My throat felt no better, but I was determined not to remain silent for long periods of time. I wasn't the type to just let my opinion remain in my head. "Something that can kill a lot of people at once, something that can cause worse pain than the Cruciatus Curse, Dementors are pretty bad, maybe something that could somehow make him supreme ruler of the world or something…you never know…"

But it was just then we heard Mrs. Weasley coming up the stairs to check on us, and Sam quickly Apparated back to the room he shared with Ron and Harry.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The next few days went by dolefully. Nothing happened whatsoever, aside from ridding the Drawing Room of doxies and, unfortunately, finding a boggart. My throat remained the same – the more I talked, the worse it got, but I refused to remain silent. So I just let it get worse.

Nobody noticed.

When I found out Father wasn't going with Harry and I to the Hearing, I wasn't worried. I figured Dad would go. But on the night before the Hearing, right before we were to leave, I found out that Dad wasn't going either. And I wasn't too pleased.

"You can't not go!" I said to him in a voice that sounded almost terrified, forgetting about my neck injury for the moment. "I don't want to go alone!"

"You won't be alone," Dad said, putting his hands on my shoulders and squeezing them lightly. "Mr. Weasley will be taking you there, and Harry will be there the whole time." He turned to Harry. "You'll take care of her, won't you?"

"Of course," he said simply. I looked back to Dad, my eyes wide.

"Why are you so worried?" he asked quietly, furrowing his eyebrows. "It's not like _your _fate at Hogwarts depends on it."

"I know," I said. "But I've never been to the Ministry, I'll be talking in front of quite a few people with a sore throat, and if I say one thing wrong I could make it so Harry will be kicked out of Hogwarts."

"Abigail, dear, didn't I tell you last night? Wear your hair up and out of your face," Mrs. Weasley said suddenly, coming up behind me and grabbing all of my hair. I jumped slightly, pulling myself out of her reach, as Dad went to sit back down. "It looks cleaner and shows your pretty face more."

"I'm going to wear it down, thanks," I said, running my fingers down the length of my hair. "Or else it shows off my neck," I muttered. Only Father heard me, and he narrowed his eyes.

"Come on Abigail –"

"No Molly, let her wear it down," Father said. "If she's uncomfortable about the bruises, she should be allowed to cover them up. She's already wearing a dress which makes her uneasy enough."

"All the more reason to wear it up!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "It's the best evidence they've got. Unless they want to pin it on somebody abusing her." Nobody had thought of that yet, and suddenly almost every face in the room turned white.

"Molly, we've got to go," Mr. Weasley said after a moment. "Let it go."

"Can I talk to Harry for a moment?" Dad said suddenly as Harry, Mr. Weasley, and I were heading for the door.

"Just as well," Mr. Weasley said. "I need to use the lavatory." He headed to the basement without another word.

Harry followed Dad into library, leaving me to stand in the eerie hallway with only elf heads and my crazy grandmother's portrait as company. After a moment, I got curious and headed down the other hallway just enough to hear their conversation.

"You need to keep your cool Harry," Dad was saying quietly. "I know if they get rude at all, Abbey will snap easily, she always has, and if you do too it'll only make things worse. I can't control her, but if you keep your cool then they'll be less likely to condemn you because of her bad temper."

I couldn't blame Dad – I _did _have a bad temper – but I wasn't going to ruin it for Harry. As I stormed back toward the door, I refused to allow myself to ruin it all for Harry. I would control my temper if my life depended on it.

Or, you know, I would try as hard as I could to control it. But if they got me mad, there wasn't much I could do, it was in my nature. I blame Father; he has quite a temper too.

Mr. Weasley was standing at the door looking at me, confused. 

"What's going on?" he asked, assuming I had heard their conversation. I shrugged.

"I don't know, I didn't hear," I lied. "I was just looking at the portraits." There was only one portrait down that hall, and it was freaking creepy. Mr. Weasley didn't question me, though, like most people would've, knowing how deceptive I could be. Instead, he headed for the end of the hallway just as Harry and Dad came out.

"Sorry about that Arthur, but we're done now," Dad said.

"Ready then?" Mr. Weasley said. Harry nodded.

"Good luck, then," Dad said. "I'm sure it'll be fine." Harry nodded again but didn't say anything. Dad turned to me. "Remember that you need to control your temper." I sighed, but didn't say anything. I knew he was right.

And then we were off. We took the underground into the heart of London, and I couldn't keep from rolling my eyes at Mr. Weasley's enthusiasm at all of the Muggle contraptions.

Before long, Mr. Weasley was directing Harry and I into the Auror Headquarters inside the Ministry of Magic. Mr. Weasley and Harry started making small talk with Kingsley Shacklebolt, a member of the Order, as though they didn't know him – I understood they couldn't just give it away that they did – but something else had caught my eye.

One of the cubicles that nobody sat at was filled with a few paper clippings, posters, and pictures. And one of the pictures was familiar.

It was a copy of our family photo.

The cubicle had been Father's before he had been suddenly accused and had to make a bolt, not even able to return for his things, leaving his Chudley Cannons poster, clippings of wanted witches and wizards – including quite a few of Wormtail – and family photos.

"Abbey." I turned around and found Harry standing behind me. He knew why I was staring, and he understood why it had suddenly caused me so much pain, even if I didn't understand it myself. Harry waved for me to follow him and when I did, I found him leading me to Mr. Weasley, who was standing at the end of the hall.

I didn't pay much attention as Mr. Weasley led us to his office, and only just had glanced at the magazine _The Quibbler _that Kingsley had told them to give to Father when Perkins, the only wizard who worked with Mr. Weasley, burst in and said the Hearing had been changed to eight o'clock.

"Quick, Harry, Abbey, we should have been there five minutes ago!"

I knew they planned this, planned to make us late to make Harry look bad. It was such an obvious yet horrible plan. One look at Harry and I knew he was thinking the same thing. But before I had time to think much else, Mr. Weasley had rushed out the door, Harry close on his heels. I paused a moment before I realized I was supposed to follow as well.

I don't really know how we got there, it was all a blur, but soon we were outside a door that looked vaguely familiar and Mr. Weasley was shooing Harry inside.

"What about me?" I asked after he had entered. Mr. Weasley shook his head.

"I was told to wait out here with you until Dumbledore arrived."

_So Dumbledore _is_ coming then? _I thought. Dumbledore had been oddly distant that summer, only coming to meetings once in a while and never staying for long. I thought he wouldn't even bother coming to the Hearing.

I don't know how long I stood out there with Mr. Weasley in silence. I wanted badly to know what was going on inside the door. Several times I had to force myself to stop from chewing off my fingernails.

But it wasn't too long before Dumbledore appeared and told me to wait outside a bit longer with Mr. Weasley until he came to get me. But when the door opened, it wasn't he who had come to get me.

It was Percy.

Mr. Weasley's eyes met his for a second before they flitted away. Even though he tried to mask it, I could see something flicker in Percy's eyes when they landed on his father and then again when they moved to my bruises, but he masked it well as he led me inside.

But I wasn't focused on that, because as soon as we entered, I almost gasped aloud.

I had been in this room before, if not this one, a very similar one, with Harry, in a memory in Dumbledore's Pensieve, when we had witnessed Barty Crouch Jr. and the Lestranges' trail during the first Wizard World.

They were doing a full trial on Harry for a simple use of underage magic.

But I had no time to dwell on this as Dumbledore gave me his chair, conjuring up another for himself, and Fudge, the Minister of Magic, called out,

"Full name?"

"Abigail Catherine Black-Lupin," I said in a bold voice, masking my anxiety and nerves well.

"Very well," Fudge said, in a bored and lofty voice. "What is your story?" I glanced in Dumbledore's direction, and he nodded almost imperceptibly.

"I had convinced my brother to help me sneak out to visit Harry and to Apparate me to Little Whinging," I lied easily. I couldn't really say Dung had taken me without them getting a little suspicious. "I had met up with Harry and his cousin after dark and we started walking back to their house on Privet Drive. And that's when I felt it."

"Felt what?" one of the witches next to Fudge asked.

"The Dementors."

"How did you know what Dementors felt like?"

"Well there were quite a few stationed around my school my first year," I said, a little more smartly than I had intended. The witch merely nodded, not seeming to care too much about how I had sounded rather rude.

"What happened next?" she asked.

"There were two of them. One went for his cousin and the other for me. Harry went after his cousin, trying two times I believe to repel it and only producing a full patronus, a stag, on the third try and with it managed to repel both the one on his cousin and then the one on me."

"What were you doing while he was helping his cousin?"

"Trying to repel the other Dementor, but I had never even tried to produce a patronus before so I really didn't get anywhere with it," I replied. "I just kind of had to stand there and wait for Harry to help, since I knew he could produce a patronus."

"Can you describe the Dementors?"

"They're huge and cloaked. They glide instead of walk. They're hideous. Everything went cold when they came, and when they're near, it feels as if all the happiness has been sucked out of the world. Like nothing could ever make you happy again, and you tend to relive your worst memories, the ones you tried so hard to repress, when they're around."

It was silent for a moment. I wondered if those who had never seen a Dementor were wondering what the memory they would hear would be.

Finally, the silence was broken by Fudge.

"You're friends with Mr. Potter, am I correct?"

"Well, yeah," I said.

"So he would've been able to teach you the cover story as well, would he not?"

"I suppose, but –"

"You're probably the one who made up the whole story anyways, being who your father is and what he's done. He's obviously a good liar, and now we know you are too."

"But I'm not my father; I'm a completely different person."

"You still have his traits in you."

"But –"

"I suppose you haven't realized that Miss Black-Lupin has proof that she _was_ attacked," Dumbledore said suddenly. I felt my eyes widen as I turned to look at him, not sure what he was talking about. If he asked me to tell or show them, I would have no idea what to do.

"Is that so? Then why doesn't _Miss Black-Lupin_ show us." Fudge hissed out my name like it was a curse word, something he couldn't bear to say, and somehow in my fury I knew instantly what Dumbledore wanted me to do. I pulled my hair up and over to the side, holding it with one hand and used the other to pull the neckline of my shirt down just slightly.

I heard a few gasps at the court's first notice of the bruises on my neck. They were still dark enough to see that they were the shape of two hands wrapped around it tightly, even from such a distance.

In the complete silence that followed this, the witch to the right of Fudge leaned forwards so that I could see her for the first time. She looked just like a large, pale toad. She was rather squat with a broad, flabby face, and a very wide, slack mouth. Her eyes were large, round and slightly bulging.

"The Chair recognizes Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister," Fudge said. I felt as if I knew her name, but I just couldn't place it.

"What makes you think we're going to believe those are marks from a _Dementor's_ hands?" she asked in a very girlish voice. "I'm betting that _werewolf_ father of hers did that to her." The way she snarled out the world "werewolf" helped me to place where I had heard the name before.

Father had mentioned her before. I could remember the conversation we had had:

"_Some of my coworkers are just plain stupid. Like the senior undersecretary, Dolores Umbridge..." _

_"What's wrong with her?"_

_"She...she's tries her hardest to make my life as hard as possible."_

_"Why?" _

_"She hates...dark creatures. And she hates that I married one."_

_"She hates Dad?"_

_"Not only Remus."_

She hated Sam, Riley, and I too.

Harry wasn't having much luck today.


	50. Chapter 50

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to Jessica682, and sweetteetwo for the reviews! **

Chapter 50

"Perhaps," Umbridge said. "Perhaps we should send an investigator to be sure he isn't abusing her and her brother and sister."

"Come now, Dolores, be reasonable," the witch on Fudge's other side said, sighing in exasperation at Umbridge. She didn't seem to like Umbridge, which didn't surprise me, as I couldn't imagine anybody liking her. "No human's hands are that big, nobody's fingers that long."

"Well he's a werewolf, so his could be," Umbridge said, annoyed. "And they probably are." The other witch rolled her eyes. Even Fudge seemed to agree with the other witch rather than Umbridge.

"If she had been around him while he was in his werewolf form, then I believe she would have much worse injuries than a bruised neck," Dumbledore said. I could tell by his voice that he was getting annoyed with Umbridge. He didn't seem to like her, and I didn't blame him.

Umbridge huffed, but leaned back in her chair, resigning her argument. At least for now.

"Very well," Fudge said, looking annoyed. He waved a hand at me. "You may go."

I looked uncertainly at Dumbledore, who refused to even look my direction, and then Harry, who nodded slightly. I could tell he didn't want me to go, he didn't want to face that crowd alone, but he knew I had to leave. So I did.

I could tell Mr. Weasley wanted to ask questions, but I didn't give him time to as I rested my head against the crack in the door, trying desperately to hear what was going on inside. I got a little lucky, at least more than I had expected – I could hear little snippets of their conversation.

"Oh, I don't think any of us believe the Dementors were there by coincidence," I heard Dumbledore say.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Fudge snarled, his voice low but so angry that it carried to me easily.

"It means that I think they were ordered there."

Several witches and wizards came waltzing by, shooting me odd looks but not saying anything, and it became impossible to hear the conversation inside the room for several moments. When I tuned back in, I heard Fudge exclaim,

"We are familiar with Clause Seven, thank you very much!"

"Of course you are," Dumbledore said patiently. "Then we are in agreement that Harry's use of the Patronus Charm in these circumstances falls precisely into the category of exceptional circumstances the clause describes?"

"If there were Dementors, which I doubt."

"You have heard it from an eyewitness," Dumbledore pointed out. "If you still doubt her truthfulness, call her back, question her again. I am sure she would not object." I couldn't help but silently wish they _would _call me back in, so I could make fools of them. That's always what I wanted to do around dumbasses like them.

A few minutes of not being able to understand them, and Fudge was suddenly saying, "Oho! Not our business what he does at school, eh? You think so?"

Maybe I was reading too much into it. Maybe I'm just paranoid. But something about the way that he said it, and the gleam I could just imagine in his eyes, sounded as though, whatever Dumbledore had said that caused this reaction, was going to change. If it didn't matter what Harry did at school, somehow, they were going to make it matter.

I didn't like the strange feeling of foreboding I got in the pit of my stomach.

And finally, after what felt like ages, I heard Fudge say angrily, "Very well, very well…cleared of all charges."

It took all my self control not to jump for joy, and instead just let out the breath I didn't know I had been holding and stepped back from the door, leaning against the wall casually so it didn't look as though I had been listening in.

And lucky I had moved so quickly, because Dumbledore came bursting out of the room. Mr. Weasley took a step toward him, but Dumbledore didn't say anything, and instead hurried down the hall. I waited for Harry so I could…_congratulate _him?…but when he came bustling out of the room and told a few short sentences to Mr. Weasley. When he turned to me, I could help but throw my arms around him, holding him tight.

"I couldn't have done it without you, y'know," he whispered so even Mr. Weasley couldn't hear. I laughed, disbelieving.

"Yeah, right, I didn't do anything to help you."

"No really," he whispered. "If it weren't for you they would've for sure convicted me." I didn't believe him. They didn't even listen to me.

The door opened again and the witches and wizards inside started filing out.

"Merlin's beard!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed, pulling Harry and I aside so they could pass. "You were tried by the full court?"

"I think so."

I paid little to no attention to those coming out of the courtroom until Percy came out. While he completely ignored Mr. Weasley and Harry, acting as if they were simply part of the wall or something, his eyes rounded on me.

"Is your neck okay?" he asked. Though he sounded annoyed or something of the like, I could tell he honestly cared. I had practically been raised as his sister; it's only natural for him to worry about me – even though he didn't seem to worry too much about his real family.

I stiffened and nodded, refusing to say anything to him. Even if he hadn't hurt me, he had hurt his family, something I was completely against. I would give anything for somebody – anybody – that I loved.

"Maybe you should get it checked out by a more…_qualified _wizard. Wouldn't want you to get too hurt," he said before marching down the hall after Fudge. I knew he was directing his words at his father, even if he didn't look at him, or even anywhere near him for that matter. I felt my throat tighten at seeing him completely ignore his own father.

I looked up at Mr. Weasley. He was trying to act nonchalant about it, but I could tell it hurt. The Weasley's are a tight knit family.

"I'm going to take you straight back so you can tell the others the good news," he said, beckoning Harry and I forwards as Percy's heels disappeared up the steps. "I'll drop you off on the way to that toilet in Bethnal Green. Come on…"

"So, what will you have to do about the toilet?" Harry asked, grinning. The truth about how he was actually cleared must finally be sinking in.

"Oh, it's a simple enough anti-jinx," Mr. Weasley answered as we started up the stairs.

But I really wasn't listening. The tightening of my throat I had felt when Percy was talking to me hadn't gone away – if anything, it had gotten worse. I had thought it was just because of his presence, but now that it hadn't gone away I didn't know what to think. It couldn't be getting worse, could it?

When I heard Mr. Weasley cut off mid-sentence, I looked back up from my feet at him to see what was wrong and found myself stopping just in time to avoid running into Harry, who had stopped beside Mr. Weasley.

I opened my mouth to ask what was going on, but stopped for two reasons; I was finding it hard to breathe, let alone speak, and I had leaned around Harry and seen why we had stopped.

Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, was talking to somebody I recognized instantly. Not because I had met _him_ specifically before, but because I had spent a lot of time with somebody who looked exactly like him.

Lucius Malfoy.

When he turned to face us, I could see that there were more resemblances between father and son than I had known. Tall, pale, sleek blonde hair with a little too much gel, pointed face, cold grey eyes.

At first his eyes landed on Harry, but when he saw me poking my face out from behind his shoulder they moved to me. I gulped, tempted to retreat behind Harry's back again. I had to remind myself that I'm a Gryffindor, not Hufflepuff, and I should have the courage to stand up to him.

If only it weren't for the fact that Harry had told me pointedly several times that Malfoy was one of the Death Eaters that had been there that night in the graveyard.

But, to my surprise, his eyes trailed back to Harry. Either he didn't recognize me, which I highly doubt, or he just didn't know what to say.

"Well, well, well…Patronus Potter," he said coolly. Harry's hands clenched into fists at his side. "The Minister was just telling me about your lucky escape, Potter. Quite astonishing, the way you continue to wriggle out of very tight holes… snakelike, in fact."

Mr. Weasley gripped Harry's shoulder in warning, but his eyes met mine. He shook his head slightly before he turned back to face Malfoy.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good at escaping," Harry said casually.

"And Arthur Weasley too!" Malfoy exclaimed. "What are you doing here, Arthur?"

"I work here," Mr. Weasley replied briskly.

"Not here, surely?" Malfoy asked, raising one slick eyebrow in a way I had seen Draco do several times. "I thought you were up on the second floor… don't you do something that involves sneaking Muggle artifacts home and bewitching them?" 

It's effective to say that Mr. Weasley was now gripping Harry's shoulder so hard not to keep Harry from saying something but to keep himself from attacking Malfoy. Can't say I was too thrilled with how he was acting either, but it wasn't like I had never seen Draco treat Harry like this before. I suppose he got it from his father.

"No," Mr. Weasley replied simply and through gritted teeth.

Finally Malfoy's eyes met mine. I noticed that his eyes were precisely the same color as Draco's. Funny, I had thought that his grey eyes came from the Black side of his family, considering I knew both Father and Regulus had grey eyes, but I guess I was wrong.

"And you must be Miss Lupin –"

"_Black_- Lupin," I sneered, my voice more quiet than I was used to. He smirked slightly.

"My apologies, Miss _Black_-Lupin," he said, adding emphasis on the _Black _sound in my surname. I couldn't tell if he was mocking me or genuinely sorry – if he was at all like his son, it was probably the first. "You know, I've heard _all_ about you," he added.

"I can't say the same," I replied honestly. He laughed lightly.

"I'm not surprised," he said. "From a young age Draco adored me and hated me at the same time. I wouldn't be surprised if he had _never_ mentioned me to you." I blinked, unsure what to say.

"Let me see your neck," he said simply, motioning at me to come out from behind Harry. But Mr. Weasley moved his hand from Harry's shoulder to mine, holding me back. He didn't need to worry – I hadn't planned on letting him see my neck anyways.

I couldn't help but notice how annoyed the Minister was that Malfoy was making "small chat" with us. I knew he really just wanted to piss us off. If he's anything like his son, and I would've bet anything that he was, I knew his real motives.

"We don't need you to make sure her neck is okay," Mr. Weasley said harshly.

"You don't?" Malfoy asked in disbelief, raising an eyebrow.

I swallowed, causing a slight throbbing in my throat.

"We can take care of her just fine, thank you," Mr. Weasley snarled.

"Really?" Malfoy had the exact same expression of disbelief on his face as before. "Doesn't seem like you can to me, being as that happened weeks ago and she is still in pain from it."

Mr. Weasley looked at me, shocked. Obviously he hadn't realized that it had been causing me pain still. I must be a pretty good actor.

But then how did Malfoy know? He hadn't ever even met me before, while Mr. Weasley was one of the closest things I had had to a father growing up.

"If she's in pain, she hasn't said anything about it to me," Mr. Weasley replied, his grip on my shoulder tightening just slightly.

"Really?" Malfoy repeated, raising both of his eyebrows this time and turning his gaze to me. "Why haven't you told anybody?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied simply. Malfoy narrowed his eyes.

"Don't lie to me," he said maliciously. "I always know when somebody's lying to me, and I can tell that you are now. Why haven't you told anybody that your neck's been hurting you again?" I stared at him but didn't say anything. I didn't know the answer to that, really.

The silence between the four wizards and I standing there in the hallway was finally broken by Harry.

"Abbey, is he right? Has it been hurting you?" he asked, sounding worried. I couldn't bear to see the smug look in Malfoy's eyes when I admitted it, so I kept my eyes focused on Harry's emerald ones when I nodded slowly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Mr. Weasley asked, his eyes wide.

"I…I don't know…" I said slowly, looking up at him.

I actually did know why I hadn't told them. With everything going on, the Order and the Hearing and Voldemort being back and whatnot, I didn't want to cause more trouble than was necessary. A little pain in my throat was nothing.

"Probably too proud to admit that something so simple was causing her pain," Malfoy said. But, to my surprise, he didn't sneer it as I had expected – he said it as if it were simply a fact.

Maybe that was part of the reason I hadn't told anybody as well. Now that he brought it up, I felt like it was likely.

How did he know me so well after having just met me? Did Draco just talk about me that much to him? – I highly doubted that because of many reasons. Or was he just really intuitive?

For some reason I felt like it was neither.

"I know a spell that can make the bruises and everything go away," Malfoy said when nobody said anything. "If you'd allow me to, that is."

"No, I think we're fine," Mr. Weasley said. I knew how much he hated Malfoy – he probably thought he would kill me or something. I doubted it – he just didn't seem like he was going to, plus the Minister was awkwardly standing right beside him.

"I'm not going to hurt her," Malfoy said. "I wouldn't do that to somebody my son cares so much for. Not to mention I wouldn't do that in front of the Minister of Magic."

At least he didn't say he wouldn't do that at all, because each person in the hall knew that was untrue.

"Just let him, Arthur," Fudge said. "She's still just a little girl; she doesn't deserve to be in pain. Let your pride go for just this once."

I tensed at the words "little girl." I hated being called that. Just because I was small didn't make me a "little girl." But he's the Minister, so I couldn't say much about it to him. Or complain at all, really.

Mr. Weasley sighed heavily. I knew he didn't want Malfoy of all people to fix my neck, but he couldn't deny the Minister or he might loose his job. He was stuck.

"Fine," he said finally, pulling me lightly to the side of Harry to stand directly in front of Malfoy. "But don't you dare hurt her in any way or you'll be sorry."

Fudge obviously didn't like Mr. Weasley saying that, but he didn't say anything about it as Malfoy raised his wand and aimed it at my throat. He muttered a spell under his breath that I didn't catch.

It felt like I could finally breathe again. All the pain in my neck was gone – I couldn't even remember it not hurting before. You know the feeling that a weight was lifted off of somebody's shoulders? It was like that, only on my neck instead of shoulders, and quite literally rather than metaphorically.

My hand shot up to my throat, as if to feel if there were still bruises there even though I knew I couldn't feel them.

But I could tell by the look in Harry's eyes that they were gone.

"How did you do that?" Harry asked Malfoy, still shocked.

"Magic," Malfoy answered vaguely. "Shall we go to your office then, Minister?"

"Certainly," Fudge said. "This way, Lucius."

And they were gone.

"Why wasn't he waiting outside of Fudge's office if they've got business together?" Harry asked suddenly. "What was he doing down here?"

"Trying to find out whether you'd been expelled or not," Mr. Weasley answered.

As they continued to talk in low voices and Mr. Weasley started back toward the Atrium, I couldn't help but get the feeling that maybe Malfoy hadn't been down there to see if Harry had been expelled or not.

Why would he care about that, anyways?


	51. Chapter 51

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for the reviews!**

**I'm so so sooooo sorry this took so long! I went to Florida for like 7 days, which is no excuse to be this late, but I'm going to try to get to at least monthly updates I swear! Starting Sunday I'm going out of town for two whole weeks so don't expect an update during that time.**

**Again, I am _so _sorry!**

Chapter 51

"Abbey, where'd the bruises on your neck go?"

"He got off, he got off, he got off –!"

"What? Oh –"

"Lucius Malfoy," Mr. Weasley interrupted me quickly. "He was there, he was talking to Fudge before going off to his office."

"He got off, he got off, he got off –!"

"What does that have to do with Abbey's bruises?"

"He got off, he got off, he got off –!"

"Fred, George, Ginny, that's enough!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed. "When he saw us, he offered to heal it –"

"Well you don't just let him!" Father yelled. "You don't just let a dark wizard 'heal' somebody, especially the daughter of two people he absolutely loathes!" Fred, George, and Ginny finally stopped their chants at the sound of Father's raised voice.

"The Minister was there, and he told me to, I would've lost my job and –"

"I don't care about your fucking _job!_ You could've gotten a little girl killed –!"

"I am _not _a little girl!" I snapped, suddenly remembering that I could actually talk again without being in pain. Father glanced a me but otherwise ignored me.

"Everybody out!" Father said, pointing to the door.

"Sirius –" Dad started calmly, but Father continued.

"Everybody but Arthur, Molly, Remus, and – and Abbey, go up to your rooms!" he said. Everyboy stared at him, shocked and confused, for a moment before Hermione pushed Ron and Harry out, and Ginny followed downheartedly. Fred and George stared at Father for a minute before he barked, "Out!" again, and they ran out quickly, not wanting him to get mad at them too.

"Sirius, calm down –" Dad tried again, but Father had already turned on Mr. Weasley.

"What spell was it?"

"What?" Mr. Weasley asked. Father narrowed his eyes.

"What spell did Malfoy use to '_heal_' her?" he repeated. Mr. Weasley shook his head slowly.

"I didn't hear it – he used it nonverbally!" he said, trying to defend himself. Father glared at him for a moment before turning on me. At first I flinched, scared that he was going to yell at me too, since I wasn't sure exactly why he wanted me to stay in the room, but his eyes softened almost immediately. He waved at me to come closer.

"How does your neck feel now dear?" he asked when I stopped right in front of him, pushing my chin up slightly so he could look at my skin closely.

"Like I'd never had those bruises to begin with." He rose his eyebrows. "I mean, it's a little tender but otherwise it feels completely fine." Father was pushing on my neck lightly.

"Does that hurt?" he asked.

"No, but it's not very comfortable," I replied honestly. He leaned back, still looking at my neck.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Look, Abbey, can you wait upstairs in your room for just a few moments, okay?" I shrugged as I left the room.

I didn't want to "wait" in my room, I wanted to go to my room. I wanted to take a nap, I was so worn out. But I knew that as soon as I got to that room, Riley would be asking me questions – if she was there, that is. She was probably with Harry and Ron and Hermione. I kind of hoped she would be.

When I pushed the door open, I found that I was lucky – she _had _gone to talk to them, so I could lie down and rest. I just couldn't sleep.

As I lay, though, I realized I probably would fall asleep if I didn't find something to do. So I sat at the small desk in the corner and pulled out the enchanted journal that Draco had given me for my birthday and flipped it open.

I was surprised to find that there had been several new notes from him since the last time I had checked it. The most recent one said, "_Abbey, are you okay?_" I was confused until I checked the rest of them.

_Hey babe, haven't heard from you in a while, what've you been up to?_

_You there? Abbey?_

_Guess not._

_Father just told me he saw you today at the Ministry of Magic. _

_Why didn't you tell me about the Dementors?_

_Is your neck okay?_

_Will you please reply?_

And then he went on to say several very similar things.

I felt horrible. I should've checked it more often; I should've known he would want to keep in touch more than we were. But instead I got lost in my own little world and left him alone, probably worried that I was really hurt or something.

I grabbed the nearest quill and ink and started to write back to him immediately.

_Oh my gosh, I'm soo sorry! I've just been so busy lately and Father is really watching me after I snuck out to visit Harry and it just all sucks. I'm fine, I swear, my neck hurt before but then your father fixed it up._

I paused and decided to add, "_Be sure to tell him thank you for me, alright?_"

I was surprised when he replied almost instantly with only one word. "_Abigail_." I blinked. At first I was confused as to why he used Abigail instead of Abbey, but I decided to wait and see what else he would say. But after several minutes of him not saying anything else, I sent another one.

_Yeah?_

_Why didn't you tell anybody? Why didn't you tell __me__?_

I had to think for a moment. What was he talking about? Then I realized; he was probably talking about my neck. How it still had been hurting me, but how I hadn't told anybody. _Shit_, I thought. _He probably thinks I didn't trust him enough to just tell him…_

After several moments of contemplation, I started to write back slowly, "_I didn't think I was supposed to. I mean, it's a pretty big deal that Harry was attacked by Dementors, and I didn't think they just wanted everybody to know about it_."

_Okay_, he wrote back._ Fair enough. But then why haven't you replied to any of my messages?_

_I haven't seen them. I told you, I've b_

But before I could even finish, he started writing and I stopped to read what he was saying.

_Please don't say you've been busy and then not even tell me with what_.

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair stressfully. He really did know me too well.

_I just…I can't. I can't tell you. You have no idea how much I want to, but with your father and his position, he could come across this anytime and if Father or Dad or anybody ever found out it was my fault they'd skin me alive._

It was killing me to not tell him. I needed to tell him. About how we had left my house, and why, and about the Dementor attack that I was still shaken from. I just couldn't…I knew I could trust Draco, but somebody could've found this, could be impersonating him. Or they could force it out of him somehow…

_I understand._

I sighed, rubbing my face. I just knew he must be feeling like I didn't trust him. I would feel that way too.

_I miss you_, I wrote after a couple of moments.

_I miss you too._

Before I could reply with a message that I couldn't seem to say how I wanted, a light knock came on the door and Dad poked his head in.

"Can I come in?" he asked. I nodded, closing the journal and pushing it away from me. Dad closed the door behind him lightly and sat on the bed close to me.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, slightly worried when I saw the apprehensive look that crossed his face.

"Sirius is very…upset with Arthur –"

"He's pissed, isn't he?" I asked. Dad laughed lightly, looking down at his hands and nodding.

"To sum up his reactions, yes, he was pissed," he replied. He paused. "You don't feel anything in your neck then? No pain, no throbbing, no numbness…nothing?" I shook my head.

"No, it feels completely normal," I answered. "Why?"

"We're just…worried."

"About what?" He sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Dark Magic." I blinked. "We're worried that whatever Lucius did to your neck cured it for now but will come back and…be even worse later. That's why Sirius is so upset with Arthur. He's pissed, yes, but he's also just very worried about you."

"What…what could it…y'know, what could happen because of it?"

"Anything from a light pain to complete control of your actions to…"

"To death," I finished for him, already having known the answer. He nodded. I took in a sharp death breath, terrified but not really wanting to show it.

"Abbey, look at me." I didn't. "Look at me," he repeated, a bit more forcefully. I looked up slowly. "We're going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen, okay? To make sure none of that happens, that the Dark Magic gets out of you if it even is in you."

"How can you do that?"

"There's a charm," he answered. "You have to take a bit of blood, use a charm on it, and it changes specific colors based on how much Dark Magic is in the body. If there is any at all, we'll have to speak to Dumbledore about getting it out."

"When are you going to do it?"

"As soon as Sirius calms down," he said. "You have to be knocked out to do it."

"Lovely way to put it," I muttered. Dad smiled slightly.

"Just sedated is all," he corrected himself. I made a face just as the door pushed open and Father entered. He looked at Dad, who nodded slightly, and then at me.

"Ready?" Father asked. I made another face, scrunching up my nose in distaste, but nodded nonetheless. He motioned for us to follow him, and we did so, Dad bringing up the rear.

I expected him to take us downstairs, but to my surprise he started up the stairs.

"Where're we going?" I asked. He didn't answer and merely said,

"Just follow me." I was still confused, but I ignored it and followed him all the way to the top floor and into the room he had grown up in, the room he and Dad were sharing now. Before entering, I glanced at my uncle Regulus's bedroom door, suddenly remembering that I had forgotten completely about the locket Kreacher had entrusted to me.

As soon as Dad had closed the door behind him, Father pointed to the bed and told me to sit down. They sat on either side of me.

"Do you feel completely okay?" Father asked. I nodded. "No pain anywhere, no nausea?" I shook my head.

"I feel completely normal. A little worried, but that's normal right?" He nodded simply.

"Alright, if you're sure, lay down on the bed." Bewildered, I laid down with my head on the pillow that I knew was Dad's, pushing my feet under the covers.

"We're just going to knock you out with a spell for a couple hours, okay?" Dad said. "So we can take that blood we need to test it." I shrugged.

"Okay," I said, as if it didn't bother me.

But it did.

I wasn't afraid of the spell that would knock me out. I trusted Dad and Father both equally, I knew that no matter what the spell was it wouldn't hurt me. I was afraid of what might happen when the blood was tested. What if I _did_ have Dark Magic in me? I didn't care what would happen to me – I cared what would happen to those around me. They would all worry about me, waste a lot of time trying to get it out, and I just…didn't want that.

Father waved his wand, muttered a few words, and I found myself falling asleep…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I felt like I was only asleep for a few seconds when I cracked my eyes open again.

"She's been out all day, how strong did you put it on her?" a voice I knew but couldn't place asked.

"I put how much I should've for two hours," another voice replied.

"For an adult! She's half the size of a full grown adult! Didn't you think of that?" I could finally place the voices. Dad was upset with Father, both of whom seemed worried, because Father had put too much strength into the spell.

But before I could really think too much about it, I found myself falling asleep again…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When I woke up next, the clock across the room told me that it was four in the morning. I rubbed my eyes groggily, knowing that after over 12 hours of sleep I would not be falling back to sleep anytime soon.

I wanted to get up, but when I rolled over to crawl off the bed, I realized that I had been pushed into the middle of the bed and Father and Dad were sleeping soundly on either side of me.

This was the first time this had ever happened to me. I wondered if it was something most kids grew up with – crawling into bed with both of their parents whenever they had nightmares, or scared of something pointless, or merely couldn't sleep. I had never gotten the chance to sleep with even one of my parents – if I had a nightmare, I had to crawl into bed with Sam or, when she got older, Riley.

Maybe that was nice, so I got to grow up with a closer relationship to my siblings than I otherwise would have, but I still would've wanted the opportunity to sleep in the same bed as my fathers.

Instead of getting up, I decided to let myself lay there until one of them woke up, so I rolled onto my side and rested my head on the shoulder of whichever dad was on that side. He moved his arm so it draped down my back, running his fingers through my hair a few times before stilling. I wondered briefly if I had woken him up, but if I had he didn't say anything and just went back to sleep.

I tried to do the same.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Is it strange that I couldn't wait for school to start? And because of it, the next few weeks seemed to go by so slowly.

Maybe that was because nothing really happened. I spent a lot of time trying to listen in to conversations and trying to figure out what to do about the locket Kreacher had given me, sometimes consulting him about it.

"It's obviously not just a normal locket," I said once while I was sitting at the desk in my room and he was just standing in the doorway staring at me.

"It's not?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Obviously not, or why would Voldemort be protecting it?" He just looked at me a second before walking away. "Thanks for the help," I muttered to myself, getting up and pulling the door shut.

When I sat back down, I picked up the locket again and tried to pry it open. To no avail. Annoyed, I threw it at the wall as hard as I could.

"What is it with you and that locket?"

I looked up to see Phineas Nigellus Black looking down at me, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I want to know why it won't open." He looked at me skeptically.

"Is that really the only reason you like it?" he asked.

"Whether it is or isn't, that's none of your business." He huffed, crossed his arms, and stomped out of the portrait like a child. I rolled my eyes and picked up the locket, finding absolutely no damage done to it at all.

A few days later, the very last day of the holidays, our booklists finally came in. I didn't really care, except that Hermione and Ron got appointed Prefects. I knew Harry was kinda upset that he didn't get it and Ron did, but I overheard Riley telling him about how stupid being a Prefect was anyways, and he let it go.

"Besides, don't worry," she had said. "Dad was Prefect, but nobody else in our family is going to be. Sam wasn't, I'm not, and obviously Abbey won't be."

Mrs. Weasley was pretty annoying when Ron got it, though.

"I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Oh, Ron, how wonderful! A prefect! That's everyone in the family!" she exclaimed. I looked over to Fred and George, who were staring at her open-mouthed.

"What are Fred and I, next door neighbors?" George asked indignantly. I laughed.

"Wait until your father hears! Ron, I'm so proud of you, what wonderful news, you could end up Head Boy just like Bill and Percy, it's the first step! Oh, what a thing to happen in the middle of all this worry, I'm just thrilled, oh, Ronnie –"

And that was only the beginning of her rant about how great Ron was now that he's a Prefect.

I rolled my eyes yet again and made my way downstairs.

I couldn't wait to get out of that house and to Hogwarts the next day.


	52. Chapter 52

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.**

**A/N: Okay, okay, I know it's been awhile (again) but I actually have a good excuse this time. **

**MY SISTER HAD A BABY! I now have my first niece! Anyways, not like you care too much, _but _it's a pretty good reason for not updating my fanfictions for a while.**

**I'm not to pleased with this chapter, but I have big ideas for this book (OotP) I just need some fillers like this here and there. But enjoy!**

Chapter 52

The next day I woke up much too late to Sam shaking me lightly.

"Hey Cat, better get up, Mrs. Weasley's convinced we're going to miss the train, she's going mad."

I groaned and found myself leaving the room only to find two trunks flying down the stairs toward me. I ducked them just in time – however, Ginny, who was just a few feet away, didn't and was sent tumbling down two flights of stairs.

"Ginny!" I yelled, leaning over the balcony. "Are you okay?" She didn't answer, but Mrs. Weasley had rushed over to her and was doing some quick spells to heal whatever injury had been caused. The twins passed me on the stairs, looking sheepish. I narrowed my eyes at them. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," they answered quickly. I didn't trust them, and as I started throwing all my stuff into my trunk messily Mrs. Weasley started yelling at them and I knew I was right in not having believed them.

"Did you hear that we have to have a guard on the way to the station?" Riley asked as she entered the room, setting a few more things into her neatly packed trunk before snapping it shut and heaving it off the bed. "Or, really, _Harry _has to?"

"No," I muttered, tossing a few final things, including the locket Kreacher gave me, into my trunk before closing it. "Why?"

"Why do you think?" she asked, helping me lift my heavy trunk off of the bed. I didn't reply and instead huffed. We'd get there faster without a guard, and Voldemort was supposed to be lying low anyways, but whatever. I suppose they didn't want another Little Whinging fiasco.

"WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE PLEASE!" Mrs. Weasley screamed, making Riley and I jump before grabbing our stuff and hurrying downstairs quickly so she wouldn't yell at us even more. Grandmother's portrait yelled at us as we passed, but we ignored her just like everybody else was.

"Riley, Abbey, Sam, Fred, George, you're all with Remus," Mrs. Weasley told us.

"Why do I get five children while the rest of you get one or two?" Dad asked.

"Because Sam, Fred, and George can help you if need be," Mrs. Weasley said. "Oh, for heaven's sake Sirius, Dumbledore said no!" Confused, I turned around and found Father in his Animagus form jumping up on me. I laughed. "Oh, honestly," Mrs. Weasley muttered. "Well, on your own head be it!" The dog barked.

Our group was the last to leave. Fred whispered to me that it was so we would catch up to the other groups if they were attacked, but I just rolled my eyes at him as he and George each looped arms with me, skipping up ahead jollily while the dog ran after cats and birds for our entertainment.

"Fred, George, Abbey, stop!" Dad called up at us. Fred and George sighed but stopped. "You're drawing too much attention to us," Dad muttered to them when he caught up with us. Fred sighed and walked over to Riley, linking his fingers with hers. George rolled his eyes and, when I just stood there, grabbed my wrist, pulling me after him and everybody else.

"Come on!" Sam called back at us. He had hurried almost an entire block in front of the rest of us. "We're running late!"

"We're fine, Sam," Dad said to him. "We're actually running on schedule."

"Doesn't seem like it," I heard Sam mutter from up ahead.

Finally we were in Kings Cross Station and walked casually into the wall separating platforms 9 and 10 until we walked straight through to Platform 9 ¾, the last group to arrive just as we had been the last to leave.

"No trouble?" Moody growled as soon as he saw us.

"Nothing," Dad replied.

"I'll still be reporting Sturgis to Dumbledore," Moody muttered. "That's the second time he's not turned up in a week. Getting as unreliable as Mundungus."

"Aren't you worried that something's wrong?" Riley asked him. "I mean, if nobody has seen him for a week, I would be worried." Moody rolled his real eye at her.

"Well, look after yourselves," Dad said, pulling Riley and I into a quick hug before pulling Sam in as well and clapping Harry on the shoulder. "You too Harry. Be careful."

Moody started shaking our hands and Mrs. Weasley hugged us all at random. The dog ran around our feet, jumping up on each of us at least once. I saw Draco out of the corner of my eye for a second, and our eyes met, but Mrs. Weasley literally shoved us onto the train before I could do anything but start to smile at him.

As soon as the train started to leave, I waved out the window and watched the dog bound after the train until we rounded a corner and it disappeared. I smiled slightly to myself.

"Well guys, I'm off," I said, moving around Ron so I could go find Draco.

"See ya Cat," Sam said. "Behave yourself for once, okay?" I laughed.

"I'll try," I said over my shoulder at him before looking forward again so I could peak into each compartment as I passed. I had hardly made it through one whole car when I heard somebody calling my name behind me.

"Troy!" I exclaimed, walking up to him quickly and pulling him into a hug. "I've missed you, it's been too long!"

"I know," he said, embracing me back for a moment before leaning away. "Have you seen David or Sean?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No, I was just looking for you guys," I replied. I started to continue up the car, Troy right beside me. "Have a good summer?"

"Yeah, I went to France for two weeks with my brother to visit my cousin. She's studying there for a year, she wants to be a French professor." I had almost forgotten that he had an older brother who's not a wizard.

"That sounds like so much fun, I've always wanted to go to France," I replied.

"Yeah, it really was a whole lot of fun. So what about you, how was your summer?"

"Good, but we didn't really do a whole lot," I replied.

"Manage to stay out of trouble I take it?" he asked, smirking at me. I rolled my eyes, laughing lightly.

"Yeah, not really," I said, still laughing lightly. He rose his eyebrows questioningly at me. "We'll talk later," I added quietly. I saw him give me a strange look out of the corner of my eye but something familiar up ahead caught my attention. "Hey, is that Sean?" I asked Troy, since I was too short to see over the second year in front of us. Troy stood on his tip-toes to see over the kid, and said.

"I think so – yeah, that's him, and he's with David. Sean! David!" When they appeared to not hear him, I called out louder than him,

"Sean! David!" When the kid in front of us darted into a compartment, I saw that Sean and David had heard us calling their names but hadn't yet spotted us. "Sean!" I yelled again, and when he finally spotted us, I saw him smile and come hurrying toward us, David in tow.

I reached Sean first, throwing my arms around his neck and laughing as he wrapped his arms around my waist, picking me up for a second as if it were nothing.

"Stop getting taller," I muttered to him. "It's getting harder and harder to hug you." He laughed, setting my feet back on the ground.

"Maybe you should actually grow for once," David joked, hugging me briefly. I didn't know what to say, so I scrunched my nose up at him in response. He laughed, shaking his head at me. "You're _so_ mature."

"Come on," Troy said, nudging both of us forward. "Let's find a compartment." 

"We saw Addison and Adelaide up there," Sean said, pointing toward where they had been before Troy and I had called them back. "They have a compartment and we were planning on sitting with them."

"Actually, I was thinking of maybe going to find Draco," I said, feeling slightly awkward. But the three didn't seem to mind. In fact, the only thing any of them said was Troy telling me that I should say hi to the Woods before I left.

After swinging by to make small talk with Addison and Adelaide, asking them how their summer was (they had gone to the Quidditch World Cup with their brother Oliver again, which was held in Japan this year) and telling them that I would see them later.

As I walked up the train looking into each compartment that I past, I wondered if I was allowed to tell Troy, Sean, and David about everything we had learned at Grimmauld Place that summer, deciding that I probably wouldn't be allowed to but that I probably would anyways. Not like the Death Eaters are after them for anything, they would never expect three average Gryffindors to know those things.

Then again, if they did, that could be bad. Maybe I shouldn't tell them.

I was almost all the way to the back when I found Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise together in a compartment. I banged the door open, causing them to jump and look at me.

"Where's Draco?" I asked.

"In the Prefects compartment," Blaise said. "You didn't hear he was made Prefect?"

"No," I replied. "But the letters were sent out only yesterday and I just…I haven't talked to him in that time." I paused. "Just tell him I was looking for him when he comes back, alright?" Blaise nodded.

I left the compartment, intending to head back to where I had been, but I happened to look into another compartment nearby and saw Riley, Harry, Neville, Ginny, and a blonde girl I didn't recognize. I wasn't going to bother stopping by, but I noticed they were all covered in a dark green puss looking thing. Confused, I pushed the door open and leaned against the wall, smiling slightly at the disgusted looks on all their faces.

"What the heck happened here?" I asked, unable to stop from laughing.

"Shut up Abbey," Riley mumbled as Ginny pulled out her wand and said, "_Scourgify_!" The pus all disappeared immediately.

"No seriously, what happened?" I asked, trying not to laugh this time.

"Neville's Mimbulus mimbletonia spat Stinksap at us all," Harry muttered, looking very pink in the face.

"Sorry," Neville murmured. I doubt it was the first time he had said sorry for that. Rolling my eyes, I sat down next to Harry, pulling the door shut behind me. I noticed the blonde girl watching me from over the magazine that she was reading, the Quibbler.

"You're Abigail Lupin," she said. I blinked.

"Black-Lupin, actually," Riley and I corrected at the exact same time. The girl widened her eyes a little – if that was even possible.

"If you say so," she said, sounding disbelieving. I stared at her, confused. "You're dating Draco Malfoy." I rose my eyebrows.

"Yeah, I am," I replied. She continued staring at me. "Do you have a problem with that or something?" I asked after a moment, not trying to sound rude but getting annoyed.

"No," she replied quickly. "No, I'm just curious as to how that happened. A normal Gryffindor and Slytherin would never even talk to each other."

"Well I wouldn't really call him or myself normal."

"Abbey, this is Luna Lovegood, she's a Ravenclaw in my year," Ginny said after an awkward moment of silence. I smiled slightly at Luna, not completely sure how much I liked her. She didn't seem to mean any harm, but she should know the right moment to say certain things.

Riley and Neville broke into conversation about his plant thing after another moment of somewhat awkward silence, and I read the front of The Quibbler that Luna was reading. She was holding it upside down, so it was hard to read, but I had heard of The Quibbler and wanted to see if it was really as strange as it supposedly had been.

After a while I had finally made out all the titles of the articles inside of it, and one caught my eye: _Sirius Black: Villain or Victim?_

"Hey, Luna," I said after a moment. She glanced up at me over the magazine. "Can I see your magazine for a moment?" She nodded, handing it over so it was right side up. I found the page and flipped to it, interested in what The Quibbler, the crazy magazine, would have to say about Father.

The article was illustrated with a rather badly drawn cartoon of what was supposed to be Father standing on a pile of human bones with his wand drawn. Narrowing my eyes, I started to read the article.

_SIRIUS - BLACK AS HE'S PAINTED?_

_Notorious mass murderer or innocent singing sensation?_

I was already on the verge of laughter after reading the first line, but knew it would be horribly rude to laugh so I tried to hold it in.

_For fourteen years Sirius Black has been believed guilty of the mass murder of twelve innocent Muggles and one wizard. _

_Black's audacious escape from Azkaban two years ago has led to the widest manhunt ever conducted by the Ministry of Magic. None of us has ever questioned that he deserves to be recaptured and handed back to the Dementors. _

I had almost forgotten that everybody had decided to conveniently forget that Father had been proven innocent for an entire year before the government decided to be douche bags and call him guilty gain. Still, I had no idea what this had to do with him being a "singing sensation," which he so obviously wasn't.

_BUT DOES HE?_

_Startling new evidence has recently come to light that Sirius Black may not have committed the crimes for which he was sent to Azkaban. _

There has been evidence all along! I thought angrily.

_In fact, says Doris Purkiss, of 18 Acanthia Way, Little Norton, Black may not even have been present at the killings._

Okay, now he actually _was _at the killings. Obviously.

_"What people don't realize is that Sirius Black is a false name," says Mrs. Purkiss. _

_"The man people believe to be Sirius Black is actually Stubby Boardman, lead singer of popular singing group The Hobgoblins, who retired from public life after being struck on the ear by a turnip at a concert in Little Norton Church Hall nearly fifteen years ago. I recognized him the moment I saw his picture in the paper. Now, Stubby couldn't possibly have committed those crimes, because on the day in question he happened to be enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with me. I have written to the Minister for Magic and am expecting him to give Stubby, alias - Sirius, a full pardon any day now." _

I blinked, completely and utterly perplexed. Obviously Sirius Black isn't a false name. Obviously he was there for the murders, even though he didn't commit them. If he wasn't there, then how was he taken away immediately by the Aurors?

At least that explains why Luna said "if you say so" when I said my name was Black-Lupin and not just Lupin.

Still, it's ridiculous. Nobody thought that Father was a famous singer.

Trying not to laugh, I handed it to Riley and said, "You should read this." It was only minutes before she _was _laughing, and I couldn't help but join in. Neville, Harry, and Ginny looked at us oddly and Luna frowned.

"If you're going to laugh at it, just give it back," she snapped, taking it none too gently from Riley.

"I'm sorry Luna," Riley said, trying to stop laughing. I was still snickering behind my hand, trying to act like I was yawning instead and failing. "It's just…to be honest, it's a little ridiculous that whoever wrote this article actually thinks Father – Sirius Black – is really just a singer being framed."

"My father's the editor," Luna said coldly. I stopped laughing immediately.

"I'm sorry, Luna," I said quickly. "It's just…people believe different things, and I mean…I just don't believe that Father's a singer in disguise." Luna was still frowning when a few minutes later we saw the trolley go by, and of course Harry, Ginny, and Riley bought just about everything they could.

It was only a few minutes later that Ron and Hermione came in.

"I'm starving," Ron said, grabbing handful of food and flopping onto the seat next to me.

"Is all the Prefect stuff done?" I asked Hermione. She rolled her eyes as she answered,

"Yes, yes, you'll probably be able to find Malfoy now."

"Malfoy's Prefect?" Harry asked, suddenly listening to us. I shook my head as I stood up, heading for the compartment door.

"I'll see you later, then," I said, sliding the door open and leaving before I had to hear them all talking about how much they hated Draco.

As soon as the door to the compartment shut, I paused for a second to roll my eyes at pretty much everybody in that room before heading back to the compartment Draco would probably be in, I heard somebody down the car clear their throat loudly and turned to see him standing there smiling at me.

A/N: Yes, I know, it was rushed and just a filler but hey I've been busy with the new niece because my sister needs help and yes I'm rambling but yeah sorryyy.


End file.
